Archaeologist Braj Basi Lal (popularly known as B B Lal) is among those honoured with the Padma Vibhushan 2021.
- Lal was the director general of the Archaeological Survey of India between 1968 and 1972.
- Lal in n his book, ‘The Saraswati flows on’, criticised the argument held by historians the Aryan invasion or immigration theory. His view is that the Rig Vedic people were the same as those who were part of the Harappan civilisation.
- Between 1950 and 1952, Lal excavated a number of sites associated with the Mahabharata. Consequently, he discovered a number of Painted Grey Ware sites in the Indo-Gangetic divide and upper Yamuna-Ganga Doab.
- He led an excavation at the Ramjanmabhoomi site in the mid-1970s.
- In 1990, Lal wrote of the ‘pillar-base theory’ on the basis of his excavations at Ayodhya. He claimed to have found temple-like pillars which would have formed the foundation of the Babri Masjid.
- His this theory was recognised as the interpretive framework of the court appointed excavation team in 2002.
- Shri B B Lal is also associated with the excavations at Kalibangan- a Harappan site in Rajasthan. The place was excavated under the directorship of B B Lal during nine successive field seasons from 1960-61 to 1969-70.
(Source: Indian Express)
