Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency, under the Ministry of Culture, that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. The ancient city of Dholavira, the southern centre of the Harappan Civilization, is sited on the arid island of Khadir in the State of Gujarat. Occupied between ca. 3000-1500 BCE, the archaeological site, one of the best-preserved urban settlements from the period in Southeast Asia, comprises a fortified city and a cemetery. Dholavira is the 6th largest of more than 1,000 Harappan sites discovered so far. ASI, along with Piql decided to digitize and preserve this site for humanity. It took about 8 days for the team of over 10 people to digitize the 600 acres of this site. Drones, scanners of various types, and manual photogrammetry was used to digitize the site in various techniques and qualities. The data being stored at AWA consist of Panoramic views, 3D models, photographs and videos of the site to ensure that the data related to the entire trajectory of the rise and fall of this early civilization of humankind and demonstration of its multifaceted achievements in terms of urban planning, construction techniques, water management, social governance and development, art, manufacturing, trading, and belief system with extremely rich artifacts, the well-preserved urban settlement of Dholavira is available for the future generations to research and learn from.