What is so special about the great bath in Mohenjo-Daro?n

Imagine being in ancient times, where there is no modern day technology, equipment and advance education like engineering and yet being able to build a massive structure with just using mud and minimal resources.

The Harappans built a well-equipped structure with all amenities, more than 5,000 years ago which can even be witnessed until this day!!

The Great Bath is an ancient public water tank where people used to take bath. This tank measured 7-meter wide, 12-meters long and 2.4-meters deep. There are two staircases to enter the water tank from either side, North and South. The small sockets at the edge of the steps are believed to have been used to support wooden planks.

The circumference of the pool is bordered with small bricks. This entire structure was built using burnt bricks made of clay. The flooring and sides of the tank are layered tightly with the bricks and plastered with gypsum and a thick layer of Bitumen or natural tar.

There were porticos and changing rooms around the great bath. An arrangement was made to let hot water into the great tank. The bath was supplied with water from an adjacent well.

There was also a corbelled drain for the discharge of used water. There were two large assembly halls and residential buildings that housed around 5000 people, surrounding the great bath. The Harappans also had inordinate techniques to utilize flood water for irrigation and constructed dam-like structures to control floods. All this describes the excellent engineering skills of the Harappans.