Relevance: prelims/Mains: G.S paper I: Indian Heritage: Art and Culture
Why in news?
- The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 34th Surajkund International Crafts Mela. The year, partner country in the fair is Uzbekistan and Himachal Pradesh is the theme-state.
About:
Surajkund is an ancient reservoir of the 10th century located on Southern Delhi Ridge of Aravalli range in Faridabad city of Haryana state about 8 km (5 mi) from South Delhi.
Surajkund (literal meaning is ‘Lake of the Sun’) is an artificial Kund (‘Kund’ means “lake” or reservoir) built in the backdrop of the Aravalli hills with an amphitheatre shaped embankment constructed in semicircular form.
It is said to have been built by the king Surajpal of Tomar dynasty in the 10th century. Tomar, a younger son of Anangpal Tomar – the ruler of Delhi, was a sun worshipper and he had therefore built a Sun temple on its western bank.
Surajkund is known for its annual fair “Surajkund International Craft Mela”, 2015 edition of this fair was visited by 1.2 million visitors including 160,000 foreigners with more than 20 countries participating in it.
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 (6 km northeast), Anangpur Dam (16 km north), Damdama Lake, Tughlaqabad Fort and Adilabad ruins (both in Delhi), Chhatarpur Temple (in Delhi).
It is contiguous to the seasonal waterfalls in Pali-Dhuaj-Kot villages of Faridabad, the scared Mangar Bani and the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. There are several dozen lakes formed in the abandoned open pit mines in and around the area.
Another ‘kund’ by the same name as ‘Suraj Kund’ existed in Sunam city, tahsil and sub-division of the Sangrur District in Punjab. This was sacked by Mahmood Ghaznvi or Taimur Lane. The temple is now in ruins