Ganja helped preserve Ellora Caves for over 1500 years

8 years ago

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Archaeological experts in India have claimed to have discovered an agent that has preserved monuments and paintings in the Ellora for over 1500 years.

The agent is reportedly a mix of hemp (which is more commonly known as ganja or bhang), clay and lime plaster.

“The use of hemp helped the caves and most of the paintings remain intact at the 6th century UNESCO World Heritage site,” stated a study conducted by Rajdeo Singh, a former superintending archaeological-chemist of the Archaeological Survey of India’s science branch (western region) and M M Sardesai, who teaches botany at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

The findings and the study will be published in the 10 March issue of the leading interdisciplinary science journal called Current Science.

“Cannabis sativa, popularly known as ganja or bhang, was found mixed in the clay and lime plaster at Ellora. This was confirmed by technologies such as scanning of the electron microscope, Fourier transform, infra-red spectroscopy and stereo-microscopic studies. Hemp samples were collected from areas in Jalna district near Aurangabad and also from the outskirts of Delhi. These specimens were matched with the samples found in cave number 12 of Ellora. There was no disparity. In the sample collected from the Ellora cave, we found 10% share of cannabis sativa in the mix of mud or clay plaster. This is the reason why no insect activity is found at Ellora,” Singh said in his study according to The Times of India (TOI).

The study indicates that the 6th century Indians were aware of the several valuable properties of hemp.

“Hemp was extensively used in Ellora as well as by the Yadavas, who built the Deogiri (Daulatabad) fort in the 12th century. Hemp was not used in the Ajanta caves, which are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist structures dating back to the 2nd century BC. Rampant insect activity has damaged at least 25% of the paintings at Ajanta,” Singh told TOI.

The archaeologist, who is engaged in the conservation and the chemical treatment of Ajanta paintings for about 11 years, said that the outcome of the study was “a discovery in itself”. “Studies conducted in Europe suggested that buildings constructed with the use of cannabis sativa could last for 600 to 800 years. Ellora has proved that only 10% of cannabis mixed with clay or lime in the plaster could last for over 1,500 years,” he told TOI.

Law enforcement agencies will have their hands full if the NDPS Act is reformed for the purposes of research and preservation.

Aurangabad commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar told TOI, “Marijuana is banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. It cannot be grown, transported, possessed or consumed. Anybody found with the substance will face action.”

Rajendra Mugdia, a special public prosecutor who had earlier in the capacity of additional public prosecutor tried over a dozen cases under the NDPS Act, 1985, told TOI, “If hemp comes into use for construction work, it might lead to gross misuse. The government will have to make some amendments to the law introduced in 1985. A separate authority will have to be created for allotting permissions.”