Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Shri Narendra Modi
Former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Braj Basi Lal passed away at the age of 101 on Saturday. BB Lal led an excavation at the Ramjanmabhoomi site in the mid-1970s and was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2021.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid his condolences after the demise of renowned archaeologist Shri Braj Basi Lal.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
“Shri BB Lal was an outstanding personality. His contributions to culture and archaeology are unparalleled. He will be remembered as a great intellectual who deepened our connection with our rich past—pained by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and friends. Om Shanti.”
The official Twitter handle of the Archaeological Survey of India also paid homage to Lal and mentioned that although he may be gone but his work lives on and will continue to teach and influence generations to come.
BB Lal was born in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, in 1921. After completing his Master’s degree in Sanskrit from Allahabad University, he developed a keen interest in archaeology.
As a trainee under the renowned British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler in 1943, he began his career as an archaeologist. In the course of 50 years, Lal contributed to the publication of more than 50 books and 150 research papers in national and international journals.
Among his most notable books are ‘The Saraswati Flows On: The Continuity of Indian Culture,’ published in 2002, and ‘Rama, His Historicity, Mandir, and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology, and Other Sciences,’ published in 2008.
Lal also served on several UNESCO committees and was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by India’s president in 2000. He is best known for proposing the existence of a temple-like structure beneath the now-demolished Babri mosque.