Rakhigarhi: Fieldwork, Archaeology and the Indus Valley Civilisation

Rakhigarhi is an archaeological site in Hisar district, Haryana, in north-western India, associated with the Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilisation. It is frequently described as one of the largest known Harappan settlements, and it remains a live excavation site.

The site has been investigated through several excavation campaigns, including work by the Archaeological Survey of India in the late 1990s and by Deccan College, Pune, in the 2010s.

Since 2025 I have volunteered with the Hisar chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) — India's largest heritage-conservation non-profit — on tourist training and information programmes at Rakhigarhi, under the mentorship of Sumita Tayal, Convenor of INTACH's Haryana State Chapter.

Tourist infrastructure at Rakhigarhi is still basic but expanding. The work focuses on training local residents as guides and on giving visitors and schoolchildren clear, accessible information about the site.

Volunteer, INTACH Hisar (2025–present). My work has centred on training, interpretation and outreach rather than excavation.

• Developed and implemented a training programme to skill local women as tourist guides at the site, enabling 20 trainees with low literacy levels and traditional homemaker roles to earn supplemental incomes
• Created four simple, easy-to-understand videos in Hindi on the site's history and archaeological work, for trainees to use as a reference
• Prepared Hindi and English information pamphlets for visitors

• Photographed ruins, museum objects and ancient homes in the surrounding village for publication on a website developed by Urban-Suburban Perspectives, a non-profit collaborating with INTACH on resources and awareness for Rakhigarhi tourism
• Designed an interactive trail map for schoolchildren to explore Rakhigarhi's history through imagination and discovery
• Conceptualised a low-cost, hands-on educational discovery box for primary schools in Haryana, using locally sourced, biodegradable materials to teach the importance of heritage conservation and handicraft traditions

• Training Booklet — training material and the visitor information pamphlets
• Pictures — photographs of the site, ruins, museum objects and village homes
• Training Videos — the four Hindi-language reference videos for trainee guides

• Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH): www.intach.org (opens in a new tab)