Did the Pandavas come here? Experts revisit a site steeped in legend

Kashipur is being excavated again because earlier work revealed important remains but did not fully explain the site’s cultural history. The Archaeological Survey of India wants stronger scientific evidence for objects recovered in previous campaigns. It also wants to understand how occupation developed over time.

Earlier excavations focused mainly on documenting the plan of a large temple structure traced at Bhim-Gaja. Work in 1939-40, 1965-66 and 1970-71 uncovered three construction phases. However, archaeologists did not attempt to expose the site’s complete cultural sequence. Pottery showed occupation from the Painted Grey Ware period to the early medieval period.

The current excavation by ASI’s Dehradun Circle has already uncovered brick structures and a circular formation. Once this season ends, officials will assess whether more digging is needed. The results could support future research and tourism development while clarifying which parts of Kashipur belong to history and which remain legend.

Drona Sagar is a lake at Kashipur, a site surrounded by mythology and local tradition. According to the legend, sage Dronacharya lived and trained there while teaching the Pandavas battle skills. The lake is said to have been created as their guru dakshina, or offering, to thank him.

This story gives the lake a direct connection with the Mahabharata. It also helps explain why Kashipur is often presented as a place linked to the epic’s characters. The claim concerns local belief and mythology. The archaeological work, by contrast, investigates physical remains such as temples, bricks, pottery and soil layers.

The excavations have uncovered evidence of long occupation, including Gupta-to-early-medieval temple complexes and pottery from several periods. They have not, in the reported findings, proven that the Pandavas built Drona Sagar. The lake therefore remains an important legendary feature alongside a developing archaeological record.

Archaeologists have found substantial remains at Kashipur, including Gupta-to-early-medieval temple complexes and a large mound near Drona Sagar. At Bhim-Gaja, the site’s highest point, they traced a major structure and revealed much of a temple’s plan. The discoveries show that the area was repeatedly occupied and rebuilt.

The temple appears to have begun during the Gupta period as a high platform made from soil bricks, probably carrying a sanctum. Two encircling walls were later added, probably during the sixth or seventh century AD. Recent excavations by ASI’s Dehradun Circle have also exposed brick structures and a circular formation.

Pottery provides evidence from the Painted Grey Ware period through the early medieval period. Finds also include Kushan, Gupta and Medieval pottery. Earlier excavations recovered rich, multi-period artifacts, but the latest work aims to establish their context and create a clearer sequence of construction and occupation.

Kashipur’s archaeological landscape includes a 90-acre mound near Drona Sagar. That large area, together with the temple remains at Bhim-Gaja, shows that the site is more than a single monument. It represents a broad settlement zone with evidence of activity across a very long period.

Pottery identifies at least four named historical or cultural periods at the site: Painted Grey Ware, Kushan, Gupta and Medieval. The article also describes occupation continuing into the early medieval period. The temple itself began in the Gupta period and later received additions, probably in the sixth or seventh century AD.

Together, these finds imply that people used the region continuously for thousands of years, with human activity persisting without interruption. The exact sequence still needs clearer excavation. That is why the current work is studying earlier objects and digging deeper rather than focusing only on the visible temple plan.

Painted Grey Ware is a pottery tradition found at Kashipur and other northern Indian archaeological sites. The article associates this culture with early advanced civilisations of northern India, especially the period traditionally connected with the Mahabharata. Its importance comes from where it was found and how archaeologists use it to date occupation.

In the 1950s, archaeologist and ASI chief B B Lal excavated Hastinapur near Meerut. He famously discovered Painted Grey Ware there and associated the material with sites and chronology linked to the Mahabharata. Kashipur’s pottery therefore attracted attention because it offers a comparable cultural marker.

This connection does not by itself prove that Mahabharata events occurred at Kashipur. It shows that the site contains material from a period scholars have discussed alongside the epic’s traditional chronology. Current excavations seek a fuller cultural sequence, allowing Painted Grey Ware finds to be assessed with temple layers, brick structures and other evidence.

After the current excavations finish, ASI officials will assess whether the work should be extended. The immediate goal is to understand the newly uncovered remains and place earlier discoveries in a reliable cultural sequence. That assessment will determine what further excavation or study is needed.

The recent work has already revealed brick structures and a circular formation. Earlier campaigns exposed a three-phase temple, pottery from several periods and rich multi-period artifacts. Together, these discoveries give Kashipur both archaeological importance and a strong connection to local traditions about Dronacharya, the Pandavas and Drona Sagar.

In later stages, the site can be developed for tourism and research, according to the officials quoted. Development would follow more investigation rather than replace it. Continued excavation could clarify the temple’s history, strengthen the evidence for long occupation and help present the site’s archaeological findings alongside its legends.

Archaeologists distinguish historical evidence from legend by studying material that can be located, compared and dated within the site. Pottery types can show when people occupied an area. Building layers reveal whether structures were built, altered or surrounded at different times. Objects found in their original context are especially useful for reconstructing a sequence.

Kashipur offers a clear example. The temple began as a Gupta-period soil-brick platform, probably with a sanctum. Two encircling walls were added later, probably in the sixth or seventh century. Pottery ranges from Painted Grey Ware to the early medieval period, with Kushan, Gupta and Medieval material also recovered.

These findings document construction and occupation, but they do not prove that the Pandavas built Drona Sagar or that Dronacharya lived there. Those claims belong to mythology and local legend. The current excavation aims to test earlier objects and establish the site’s cultural sequence more precisely.