Anangpur Dam

Anangpur Dam
Anangpur Dam
	Anangpur Dam
Location	Delhi and Haryana
Coordinates	28°27′45″N 77°15′52″E / 28.46250°N 77.26444°E
Construction began	8th century
Dam and spillways
Impounds	local nullah (stream)
Height	7 m (23 ft)
Length	50 m (164 ft)
Reservoir
Creates	Water supply & Irrigation

The Anangpur Dam is an Indian hydraulic engineering structure built during the reign of the King Anangpal I of the Tomara dynasty in the 8th century. It is located near the Anangpur village in Faridabad district, Haryana, India.^[1]

History

The king Anangpal Tomar I declared himself an independent ruler and established the Tomar Dynasty of Delhi in the early 8th century. He built his capital at the Anangpur village in Haryana and expanded his kingdom from there. He is said to have built numerous palaces and temples during his reign, majority of which are now completely diminished.^[2] Anangpal I is often misunderstood to be Anangpal II.^[3]^[4]

Structure

Downstream view of the dam
Gallery entry into the dam
Steps into the gallery inside the dam
Sluice inlet in the dam

The ancient and solid gravity dam structure, a pre-Islamic structure that fords a local nala (stream) is 7 metres (23 ft) in height and 50 m (160 ft) in length between the two banks. It has been built with quartzite stones (locally available), duly chiselled and dressed, as a regular dam section with downstream base width increasing in steps with depth up to the foundation. It has entry manholes from the top of the dam, which lead into the body of the dam for inspection and control of flow through sluices for downstream uses. The intake entry into the sluice is on the upstream side. The downstream outlet end leads to the flat terrain below the dam at the ground level. The reservoir created by the dam is mostly silted over the centuries, but it is said to be in use.^[5]^[6]

Topography

A local nala (stream) originating in the Aravalli hills was intercepted by building a dam at a chasm to store rain water. It is basically a water harvesting structure meant to store rain water during the monsoon season for beneficial uses of irrigation.^[7]^[5]

It is an important biodiversity area within the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor stretching from Sariska Tiger Reserve to Delhi. Historical place around sanctuary are Badkhal Lake (6km northeast), 10th century ancient Surajkund reservoir, Damdama Lake, Tughlaqabad Fort and Adilabad ruins (both in Delhi), Chhatarpur Temple (in Delhi).^[8] It is contiguous to the seasonal waterfalls in Pali-Dhauj-Kot villages of Faridabad, the scared Mangar Bani and the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.^[9]

Access

It is approachable by road from Delhi from the Delhi - Mathura road. Anangpur, which is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the dam, is 19 km (12 mi) from Delhi city and is approachable from Qutub Minar and Surajkund. But the access to the dam is through a path from the Anangpur village, which goes through flat pastureland and then over a rocky forested hill. Sarai metro station is nearest.^[7]^[5]

References

^ Tomars of Delhi by Harihar Niwas Dwivedi. Gwalior: Vidya Mandir Publication. 1983. p. 188.
^ Singh, Upinder (2006). Delhi: Ancient History. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-81-87358-29-9.
^ Tomars of Delhi by Harihar Niwas Dwivedi. Gwalior: Vidya Mandir Publication. 1983. p. 188.
^ Tomars of Delhi by Harihar Niwas Dwivedi. Gwalior: Vidyamandir Publications. 1983. pp. 238–239.
^ ^a ^b ^c Peck, Lucy (2005). Delhi - A thousand years of Building. New Delhi: Roli Books Pvt Ltd. p. 29. ISBN 81-7436-354-8. Retrieved 5 September 2009. One of the two significant structures in the area, the dam lies about 1 km [0.62 mi] to the north of the Anangpur village. A path from the main village street will lead you in to flat pastureland. Head for the small rocky hill ahead of you and climb over it. On the other side is another flat area, rather thickly covered in thorn trees. It is worth finding a way through them to the dam that straddles the gap between the two nearby hills. The dam is an impressive edifice 50 m [160 ft] wide and 7 m [23 ft] high built from accurately hewn quartzite blocks.---There is a passage for the egress of water at the level of the ground on the dammed side. The flat land across which you have walked is clearly caused by centuries of silt deposits in the lake that once existed behind this dam. The land around has been vwey heavily quarried recently, so further archaeological finds are unlikely. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ "Paani Yatra Challenge of the Balance" (PDF). Hauz-i-Shamsi. Centre for Science and Environment: Orientation programme for Oslo University students. 31 December 2002. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b Sharma, Y.D. (2001). Delhi and its Neighbourhood. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. pp. 100–. Archived from the original on 31 August 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2009. Page 100:Suraj Kund lies about 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of Tughlaqabad in district Gurgaon---The reservoir is believed to have been constructed in the tenth century by King Surjapal of Tomar dynasty, whose existence is based on Bardic tradition. Page 101: About 2 km south-west of Surajkund, close to the village of Anagpur (also called Arangpur is a dam ascribed to Anagpal of the Tomar Dynasty, who is also credited with building the Lal Kot {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ ASOLA BHATTI WILD LIFE SANCTUARY Archived 16 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Forest, Delhi Government
^ पाली गांव की पहाड़ियों पर डैम बनाकर रोका जाएगा झरनों का पानी