Visiting Sanghol and ropar

alouise

Hi everyone, I'm planning to be in Chandigarh in the New Year and have been trying to find bus timetables on the net, but so far no luck. The places I want to go to are Sanghol and Ropar (or perhaps it's also called Rupnagar?).

Sanghol is said to be 40 km along the highway to Ludhiana, so I was wondering if a bus to Ludhiana might stop in the town. Rupnagar is to the northwest I think, about 45 km from Chandigarh and is connected by train. But would there be any bus link between Sanghol and Rupnagar? Or would I have to keep returning to Chandigarh?

I also want to catch a bus from Chandigarh to Shimla. Does anyone know if it's possible to catch a Shimla bus from Rupnagar? I'm just looking for ways to avoid backtracking to Chandigarh. Any links or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Indizen

Punjab Roadways has a very good network with frequent services. Just turn up at the Chandigarh inter state bus terminus, go to the counter for Ludhiana or Rupnagar/Hoshiarpur and buy a ticket to catch the next available bus. They will let you get off at your stop on request.
From the bus stand at Rupnagar, you can enquire if there is a service to Shimla, but the route will pass through Chandigarh in any case.

mav_e_rick

Hi there

Rupnagar was formerly known as Ropar, however,both names are still commonly used.

You can turn up at the Inter State bus Terminus (ISbT)in sector 17 OR sector 43 in Chandigarh and make your way to the Punjab Roadways bay. From here you can buy a ticket right then for Ropar or Sanghol.Most buses going to Ludhiana will stop there and if they don't,you can ask the bus driver/conductor to drop you off at Sanghol,most drivers will gladly do so.The buses are usually non-airconditioned over short distances and can be a bit adventurous to ride on,especially, if you have only ever been on National Express

I'm afraid you will have to pass Chandigarh again on your way to Shimla, that's the only ( at least the shortest!) route back.On the plus side, Chandigarh is only a 40-45 minute bus ride away from Rupnagar.

I'd recommend taking any Punjab Roadways bus from Rupnagar to Chandigarh, disembarking at ISbT and boarding either a Chandigarh Transport Udertaking (CTU)/Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC)/Haryana Roadways (HR)/Punja Roadways Deluxe bus to Shimla. Here is a link for the timetables for various State owned interstate services.

http://himachal.nic.in/hrtc/route.asp

http://hartrans.gov.in/roadways/time....asp?cmd=reset

http://www.punjabroadways.gov.in/

For most destinations there is a bus service almost every half an hour,so I wouldn't worry too much about reserving early,(that's only neceary when using the railways),just turn up and at least one of the 4 bus companies will have a service to where you want to go.

In case you didn't know, there is also a quaint toy railway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalka-Shimla_Railway ) that winds its way up from Kalka (25 kms from Chandigarh) to Shimla.It's an interesting (though takes much 3 hrs longer than the bus) way to get to Shimla.You can make reservations and print out your ticket for Indian railways ( after free registration) at www.irctc.co.in

Enjoy your trip, if you need any more information,feel free to ask!

MonkeyBoy4u

Hi louise,

I guess maverick has answered almost all your questions. Just out of curiosity, why do you want to visit Sanghol and ropar. I have lived in Chandigarh all my life but have never found these places exciting.

Am i missing something here ?

Cheers !

__________________
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

~ Robert Frost

mav_e_rick

I'm guessing Louise wants to visit the Museum and the Stupa/Buddhist Monastery in Sanghol alongwith sculptures dating way back to 1st & 2nd century AD.Also coins from Nomadic rulers of CentralAsia. All in all you should go there sometime,its pretty awesome. I've been a few times,am a history buff, I'll guarantee you will enjoy the artefacts,the site excavation at Ucha pind and the Museum Really no excuse for not going if you live in Chandigarh

MonkeyBoy4u

I routinely go to Ropar as I have relatives there. Have never been to Sanghol. So Sanghol is famous for its ancient artifacts ? what about Ropar?

alouise

Oh, thank you for that reassurance Indizen and maverick. The bus service sounds very convenient and well organised, I will definitely make use of it. Just turning up .... every half hour...great to hear! If it's convenient to use the buses then coming back to Chandigarh each time won't be a hassle at all. Pretty place, well that's how it appears from the photos of the various tourist sights. Plus there's a very good museum to keep me occupied ... just love a good museum, don't you?

Yes, Maverick, I looked into the toy train from Kalka to Shimla and it seemed great until I read about the number of tunnels - don't like tunnels much. Plus, the train takes longer than the bus and I'll be a bit short of time by that stage of the trip. After Shimla I want to catch the Kalka Barmer express to Sangaria or Hanumargarh, and that will take some time getting around - doesn't seem to be much development re. infrastructure in that part of Rajasthan, not like Punjab.

alouise

Thanks again maverick, for those bus links - the third one looks really useful, I'll try the first two again later, they didn't open just now. But just on the info you've given, you have basically solved my travel dilemna. Thank you so much.

alouise

Yes, you got it Maverick. I'm doing some research on the Kushana and Ucha pind mound was where archaeologists more recently uncovered 117 Kushana sculptures. Wow, talk about a "lolly shop" experience!

Although, I suspect that many of the Kushana sculptures from the site are housed in Chandigarh museum in the Ancient Indian Sculpure section. Would that be correct?

alouise

Ropar is a famous ASI excavation site with continuous settlement from PreHarappan to Kushana period. That sort of continuity in one site is pretty amazing in itself, but I'm especially interested in the Kushana artefacts. My fave museum so far for Kushana sculptures is Mathura, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the ones in Punjab.

mav_e_rick

That's correct Louise,it's recently that SOME Kushana sculptures from the Sanghol Museum have been acquired by the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10, Chandigarh & are housed in the Ancient Indian Sculpture section as you have rightly pointed out.

I'm glad the information has eased your travel dilemma to an extent. The links to the website may have been down earlier, I have just cross checked, they are working alright now & like I said, if you run into another wall before/after you get here, just shoot!

Sure do hope you have a great trip and soak in the all the History!Sounds Fun!

M

mav_e_rick

@ Good Museum - couldn't agree more! Chandigarh is pretty, though I personally think it lacks that 'character' or a 'soul', maybe its because it's a fairly young city (relatively, to other Indian cities/towns)having been designed & built from scratch in the late 50s.It's much cleaner alright,green avenues,grid roads, yet there is something missing..sort of like Canberra It's very close to the Himalayas and that's a pretty picture..yet there is a certain 'sterile' feel to it. Once you have done Chandigarh, you can mail and tell me if you agree/disagree!

@ Rajasthan -In fact the roads in Rajasthan are MUCH better than most other state highways, mainly because the interiors of Raj do not see as much vehicular traffic and also it is the supply line for the indian army, hence the roads right up to the border with pakistan are fantastic. Of course there is a lot of poverty in the interiors and limited development but Rajasthan is lovely and very colourful!

alouise

Maverick, thanks for all your help. Yes it is fun, definitely. My mission is to check out as many of the 1-4th century trade routes as I can. In October I'll be going back to the Andhra Pradesh section and this time going inland (last time looked at coastal Buddhist ruins and some ports).December-January will be dedicated to the Saka and Kushana expansions into the Punjab, Gangetic plain and Malwa. My dream would be to follow the overland silk route and southern branches into Thailand and Laos, but there could be a long wait for that opportunity given the Taliban and not forgetting the finances.

If I do manage to travel the ancient Saravasti plain through northern Rajastan (as opposed to just catching the train to Bikaner)I will definitely be posting about it.

mav_e_rick

Hi Louise


Glad to help

The ancient Saraswati plain through the north west sounds great, I wanted to do it last year but something came up, is definitely on the cards for me at some point this year.Out of interest you may want to check out this link http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct25/articles20.htm

My interest is still at an amateurish enthusiast level when contrasted to your immense expertise on the subject.I still don't know what branch of History appeals to me the most.At the moment it's everything that comes my way!!I just can't seem to get enough,definitely need to retrace some of these routes like you have. The silk route is a dream obviously!

Your schedule this year is definitely choc-a-bloc, pretty amazing on the various paths that you plan on covering. You almost sound like an archaeologist to me?!

What your informative posts have done is, educated & spurred me to get deeper into this Sanghol (special emphasis on the Kushanas) arena. Now I want to brush up my knowledge and travel like you to satiate the curiosity you have aroused. So I'm the one who owes you a big THANK YOU instead

Why don't you start a blog? Complete with pictures!

Have a great time and I do hope your sojourn is entirely satisfying.Look forward to reading about it this winter

alouise

Maverick, your enthusiasm delights me. And you were close, I was an archaeologist but nowadays I teach and indulge my passion during term breaks. There's an unwritten history about the Kushanas and the southern silk route. The French archaeologists in Cambodia were onto it. But after the demise of the Khmer Rouge, the Anglos stepped in to excavate and not being as knowledgeable of ancient scripts and inscriptions, they ignored a lot of the earlier research. Apart from the decline of liberal arts education (ie studying ancient languages) in that English monolingual academic world, there was also the sociopolitical bias. Anti-colonialist thinking preferred "indigenous settlement continuity" and the Indianisation of south east asia was downplayed as a quaint notion, to be expected of French colonial archaeologists. So the more recent archaeologists took a new, sociological or theory-driven approach which utilised the latest technologies. To borrow a cliche, they threw the baby out with the bathwater. And what the French archaeologists wrote is now often viewed more as an obstacle than a valuable insight.

That's my rave, sorry. But you can see how a person can become passionate about the quest for what really happened in history! Keep at your quest.