Review Meeting of National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting to review the progress of work on the National Maritime Heritage complex at Lothal near Ahmedabad. 

• Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also attended the meeting. Mr Mandviya, along with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, also visited the project site.

About National Maritime Heritage Complex 

• The NMHC will be established on 400 acres of land and will showcase the 5000-year-old history of the ancient dockyard of Indus valley civilization in Lothal. 
• The project will have various other attractions, including a lighthouse, a used navel museum and an aquatic gallery.
• A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Portugal for cultural collaboration on development of NMHC.
• The complex will comprise fourteen galleries, including a naval gallery that highlights India’s maritime heritage from the Harappan times till present. He said the coastal state pavilions displaying the diverse maritime of states and union territories will also be featured in the complex.

About Lothal

• About 80 km southwest of Ahmedabad, Lothal stood at this archaeological site 4500 years ago and was one of the most important of the Indus Valley civilization.
• Lothal is a name created from two Gujarati words, Loth and thal, which means ‘the mound of the dead' when translated to English. This city was established back in 3700 BCE and was a flourishing trading port. 
• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) initiated the excavation process of this ancient city on 13 February 1955, which lasted until 19 May 1960. 
• Archaeologists speculate that Lothal was a part of a significant river system that served as an essential trade route from Sindh to Saurashtra in Gujarat during ancient times.

• The artifacts discovered in this city suggest that it may have conducted trade with Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Persia. The excavation revealed an entire township here, including a market and dock.