BB Lal is The Living Legend, Turned 99 on May 2^nd. He is a precious gem of Bharatiya archaeology who rediscovered the Civilizational Bharat buried under the colonial past. Perhaps, no other archaeologist has contributed to Bharat as Prof B B Lal did.

Braj Basi Lal (born 2 May 1921) was born at Jhansi. He obtained Master's in Sanskrit and Vedas.
After his studies, Lal developed interest in archaeology and in 1943, became a trainee in excavation under a veteran British archaeologist, Mortimer Wheeler, starting with TAKSHASHILA.

In 1952, on a shoe string budget, B.B. Lal shone a New Light on the "Dark Age" of Indian History: Recent Excavations at the Hastinapura Site. Nehru govt didn't release funds for Archeological Survey of India (ASI), as he felt it was not important.

For 50 years, from 1943 Prof Lal did nothing except bringing back the forgotten past of HINDU CIVILIZATION. Prof B B Lal traced the towns and cities associated with Mahabharata and came out with irrefutable findings.

When the Harappan cities went for Pakistan after partition, Amlan Ghosh, head of ASI asked his team to excavate Kalibangan.

Prof Lal and his team excavated for 9 yrs and gave the evidence of the earliest (2800 BCE) ploughed agricultural field ever revealed through an excavation. This dated back to PRE - HARAPPAN ERA. In 1964, Prof B B Lal came with "Indian Archaeology Since Independence". In 1975-76, Prof Lal worked on the "Archaeology of Ramayana Sites" by excavating five sites mentioned in the Ramayana - Ayodhya, Bharadwaj ashram, Nandigram, Chitrakoot and Shringaverapur. In the seven-page preliminary report submitted to the ASI, Lal disclosed the discovery by his team of "pillar bases", south of the Babri mosque structure in Ayodhya. In response, the then Congress government headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stopped the excavations. Prof. B. B. Lal published over 20 books and over 150 research papers and articles in national and international scientific journals.

Prof Lal was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2000. (Please note Irfan Habib, Romila Thapar were rewarded and awarded by successive Congress governments for toeing their line).

The following are a set of interesting tributes to his work.  Any serious researcher must definitely consider reading them to understand and appreciate the phenomenal contributions made by Prof BB Lal

1. The Open Magazine on the eve of 25 years of Demolition of Babri Masjid carried out a wonderful article-In the Name of Rama ¹. The Tribute read-“The Excavator: BB Lal IN the 1970s, when archaeologist BB Lal and his team started digging near the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, he had little idea of a mass movement brewing over a dispute that would come to redefine politics”.
2. Also "Ayodhya Revisited" book by Kishore Kunal tells how Indira found excavation of the Ramajanmasthan at Ayodhya contentious and abandoned excavation.
3. In his book, "The Saraswati Flows On" written in 2002, Lal criticized the Aryan invasion theory
   and explains in detail how the historians bent over backwards towards west and discredited Hindu Civilization.
4. Archaeologist B.B. Lal's latest research capsizes some dearly held views on the Indus Valley Civilization and the arrival Aryan who are believed to be warmongers ². Prof B B Lal's book ‘The Rigvedic People: ‘Invaders’?/ ‘Immigrants’?/ or Indigenous?’ proves that the Rigvedic People and the authors of the Harappan civilization were the same, they were the two faces of the same coin.
5. The interview of Prof B B Lal with Jayashree Saranathan is certainly a good read. It covers in great detail AIT and debunks the propaganda. Aryan Invasion – Interview with Prof B.B.Lal. A blog to bring out forgotten values and wisdom of Hinduism ³.
6. Prof B B Lal, in his 2008 book, "Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology and Other Sciences", writes- "Attached to the piers of the Babri Masjid, there were twelve stone pillars, which carried not only typical Hindu motifs and moldings, but also figures of Hindu deities. It was self-evident that these pillars were not an integral part of the Masjid, but were foreign to it."
   And let’s not forget Prof Lal's student KK Muhammed here, because he was with his mentor throughout.

The NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recognized and honored Prof B B Lal. On the eve of his 99^th birthday Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel visited him personally and greeted him. He launched an e-book titled- “Prof. B.B. Lal: India Rediscovered”. E-book was launched on the occasion of centenary year of great archaeologist Professor B. B. Lal.

1. https://openthemagazine.com/…/ayodhya-…/in-the-name-of-rama/
2. https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/20011112-archaeologist-b.b.-lal-talks-about-his-book-the-saraswati-flows-on-774641-2001-11-12?fbclid=IwAR0tSlL_I3j_UJUdvvIJD8Yin7fHp4cbqVVfRdor21HwudICM-uINRD1pyQ
3. https://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2015/12/aryan-invasion-interview-with-prof-bblal.html?fbclid=IwAR13z_Si1Wyvx73cArEybZSJh-DoPrWj4ybnyvZ8J_VmHRErp-N9mDT7U-k