Rang Mahal is a village and an ancient Kushan era archaeological site on Suratgarh-Hanumangarh road in Suratgarh tehsil of Sri Ganganagar district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It can be reached from Hanumangarh, Pilibangan, Suratgarh. Suratgarh is the nearest major railway station to Rang mahal village.
Rang Mahal culture
Rang Mahal culture, a collection of more than 124 sites spread across Sriganganagar, Suratgarh, Sikar, Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts along the palaeochannel of Ghaggar-Hakra River (Sarasvati-Drishadvati rivers) dating to Kushan (1st to 3rd CE) and Gupta (4th to 7th CE) period, is named after the first archaeological Theris excavated by the Swedish scientists at Rang Mahal village which is famous for the terracota of the early gupta period excavated from the ancient theris in the village.Bikaner history Hanna Rydh, 1959,Rang Mahal: The Swedish Archaeological Expedition to India, 1952-1954, page 42. The Rang Mahal culture is famed for the beautifully painted vases on red surface with floral, animal, bird and geometric designs painted in black.Chedarambattu Margabandhu, 1991, Indian Archaeological Heritage: Shri K.V. Soundara Rajan Festschrift, page 233.Virendra N. Misra, 2007, Rajasthan: prehistoric and early historic foundations, Page 62. Several of these sites have layers representing Harappan culture, Painted Grey Ware culture (PWC) associated with vedic period and post-vedic Rangmahal culture.Urmila Sant, 1997, Terracotta Art of Rajasthan: From Pre-Harappan and Harappan Times to the Gupta Period, page 59. Some of the mounds are up to 35 and 40 ft in height, and some even had mud fortification walls around them.1967, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Page 140
References See also Black and red ware culture
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