India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

SANGHOL

Sanghol is a village in tehsil Khamano located in Fatehgarh Sahib District of Punjab. It is also known as Ucha Pind Sanghol. It is about 40 km from Chandigarh on the way to Ludhiana. This place holds a special position on the archeological atlas of India. Excavations at the site have yielded coins and seats related to Nomadic rulers.

Toramana and Mahiragula belonging to central Asia. Buddhist stupas was excavated in 1968, but in February 1985 a rich treasure of 117 beautiful caryed stoneslabs, pillars, crossbars, figures and figurines were excavated by the experts of the Directorate of Archaeology, Punjab. Scholars have related them to Kushan Sculptures of the Mathura school of 1st and 2n century A.D. These treasures have since been displayed for art lovers and historians in the museum of sanghol.

Places of Interest

• Site Excavation at village named ‘Ucha Pind Sanghol’.
• Archeological Museum at Sanghol (district Ludhiana)

The ground floor gallery exhibits the most important items of antiquities other than the stone sculptures. The pride of the Sanghol Museum, the stone sculptures, are displayed in the upper gallery. The antiquities in the ground floor gallery have been arranged chronologically to highlight the development of socio-cultural and religious facts of the regional manifestations of the heritage of Punjab.
Apart from the actual objects, a large number of charts, graphs, photographs, maps, and drawings have been displayed to supplement the viewing of the actual objects. Each of the items is given a label disclosing its identification and chronological placement. The methodology has been as per the latest display techniques followed in museums of the type. At the entry point has been displayed a Master Chart containing a brief history and important details of Sanghol as an archaeological site and of the objects obtained from the place.

The earthen-wares are posts and vases of varying sizes.  Large size bricks or tiles with deep marks of 3 fingers have been found at the place.  Other articles include grinding-stone, votive tanks and clay seals.  A large carved red sand stone trough has also been found at the place.

The antiquities accidentally dug out or found from the surface of Sanghol clearly indicate that the site was a flourishing town in early times.  Perhaps it was abandoned several times.  Hence the great height of the mound and the name Ucha Pind, because it is visible from a long distance.

Some of the stone sculptures recovered from Sanghol bear marked Mongoloid features.  The names given to some of the localities of the village even at present, such as “pheelkhana” and “Mahal” are indicative of the fact that the place enjoyed a very high status and was probably the seat of the ruler of the area.  Sanghol is said to be the ancient Sangal Deep ruled by Raja Sang.  The famous Rup and Basant brothers, who figure in legendary history, are said to have belonged to Sanghol.

The bulk of the archaeological evidence at Sanghol leavers little doubt that the mound, which is still about 70- 80 ft. raised from the surrounding area, is very ancient and excavations at the place might yield rich historical data.

Sanghol is situated close to the old bed of river Satluj as evidenced by white sand found over a wide stretch near the locality.  Sometimes boat oars have been reported to have been found here.  The site seems to be contemporaneous with the mounds at Sunet and Hathur. 
         
Sanghol has a Janta (Co-educational) High School, Girls Middle School and Primary School.  The village has got a panchayat. Till 1948 Sanghol formed part of the former Princely state of Patiala and was included in the erstwhile Pepsu on the merger of the States thereafter.  The village was transferred to Ludhiana district on January 25, 1950 in connection with the exchange of enclaves.

There is a vast network of bus services of Punjab, Himachal, Delhi, Haryana, Pepsu, Chandigarh, Rajasthan State Roadways, apart from private operators. Chintpurni, Jwalaji, Kangra Valley, Dharamshala, Maclodgunj, Dalhousie are some of the various Hill Stations of Himachal Pradesh where you can go to through Hoshiarpur.

Distance From
Chandigarh 140 Kms
New Delhi 390 Kms