One kilometer away from the ISKCON temple in Vrindavan, on Sunrakh Village road, is located the ancient Ramtal. It is considered to be the taps thali of Saubhari Rishi of Sat Yuva.
Here we have discovered the oldest archaeological finding in Mathura district.
This ancient site is supposed to be more than 2700 years old. During the excavation we discovered an ancient water body made of large bricks as were used during that period.
The ASI experts from Agra confirmed the same and congratulated the Foundation’s team on the historic efforts in restoring this site.
We guessed the relevance of such a sheet and arrived at this conclusion that Yamuna used to flow close to this site so probably this was done to give stability to the foundation.
It was by fluke we identified the spot and started digging with earthmovers, till we hit the walls of ancient Ramtal. These were buried 10 meters under the earth. On careful excavation the four walls (measuring 1.5x24x30 meters) emerged to everybody’s pleasant surprise. The National media like Indian Express, The Hindu & Times of India etc. rushed to do the coverage of this finding. More so because a thick iron sheet was also found at the bottom of the brick walls. This was a freak discovery because at no other archaeological site in India, this kind of iron sheet has ever been discovered beneath the foundations of a massive civic structure.
We guessed the relevance of such a sheet and arrived at this conclusion that Yamuna used to flow close to this site so probably this was done to give stability to the foundation.
This is the place where Saubhari Rishi performed austerities for 1,000 years during Sat Yuga. He also did a Yagya here on the request of the then King of Ayodhya Mandhata, to ensure rains in that area which was suffering due to a long spell of drought.
Saubhari Rishi also provided shelter to many aquatic creatures & snakes in order to protect them from Garuda, the ride of Lord Vishnu. He also used to feed fish in Yamuna River, which used to flow by the Ramtal then.
After signing a MoU with the village panchayat, with the financial support of Mr. Kamal Morarka, CMD, Gannon Dun Kerley Group, Mumbai, the de-silting was started W.E.F. Dec 2011. During desilting our machines hit the ancient bricks and on careful digging the foundations of an ancient Kund emerged.
At this point we got confused. If we continued the way we had restored other Kunds in Mathura, we could have made this finding also part of our civil works and would have filled it with water. This would have ruined the archeological finding and nobody could have ever seen it. The second option was to preserve these Ghats as it is in the same way as such sites are protected by ASI. We chose the second option and decided to construct a smaller Ramtal by digging further, but only in a limited area, within the ancient walls. This job was accomplished by the MPLAD fund of Mr. KTS Tulsi, MP Rajya, who is also a Sr Advocate at Supreme Court of India.
Soon we realized that the unevenly dilapidated top of these four ancient walls gave way to the surrounding soil, which was flowing in with the first monsoon shower. So we decided to repair the ancient wall up to a certain height. Now the problem was to match the ancient bricks. No big kiln was ready to produce 50000 bricks of such unusual size. Finally we could convince a small kiln owner to do the job. With these newly produced bricks we repaired the ancient walls. The difference in color and quality between the two was easily visible.
The entire area was dry barren land. Our horticulture incharge Amit Nehulkar and team of gardeners has converted the whole area so beautifully with hundreds of flowering trees, hedges, creepers and so on that you feel like you are in a forest. This feeling used to be very common in Vrindavan some forty years ago. Now you would not find a match of Ramtal in the entire Vrindavan.
It is believed that if one performs Yagya (Fire Sacrifice) at Ramtal, it can ensure child birth to a lady who is incapable of bearing a child. The yagya performed here can also ensure rain in the drought hit area, if the king or the leader of that area does this here. This belief might have come due to the thousand years of penance done by Saubhari Rishi in Sat Yuga. Respecting this belief of Brajwasis and to facilitate those who want to do yagya, we made a beautiful Yagyashala, under the Banyan tree. Within the great natural ambiance if one performs a yagya in early morning hours, without any desire, even then you get a very pious feeling.
Often people come here to do that. In addition to the yagyashala considering the need of such pilgrims we have built and nicely maintained Indian and Western toilets and a shower room. Amidst the trees we have earmarked a sufficiently large patch, with lush green grass as a place for Satsang, yoga or simply for your picnic. Throughout the complex of Ramtal, at several points we have constructed the garden furniture with exposed brick work and red granite top. Visitors used these facilities either for small group Satsang or for enjoying their packed meals. There is a special marble plaque glorifying late Mr. M. R. Moraraka, in whose memory his son Mr Kamal Morarka and daughter in law Mrs Bharti Morarka sponsored the restoration of Ramtal. There are 8 stone plaques which have the history of Ramtal inscribed in English and Hindi. When you visit Ramtal Please do not forget to pay your obeisance to the stone carved deity of Saubhari Rishi, sitting in a meditation mood, under the thousand year old Banyan tree. In fact this is the most popular selfie point now for visitors like you. The site was dedicated to the public on 21 Nov. 2016 by Sh. Kamal Morarka ji Former Minister PM’s office, with huge participation of Brajwasis, saints, officials of District Administration, prominent residents of Vrindavan and media persons.
