This book interleaves the history of post- Independence archaeology in India with the life and times of Madhukar Narhar Deshpande (1920-2008), a leading Indian archaeologist who went on to become the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India. Spanning nearly a century, this is a tale told through a main character-Deshpande himself-some of whose writings have been included in the volume. We explore the circumstances which brought men like Deshpande to this career path; what it was like to grow up in a family devoted to India's freedom; the watershed moment that created a large cohort that was trained by Mortimer Wheeler, the doyen of British archaeology; the unknown conservation stories around the Gol Gumbad in Bijapur and the Qutb Minar in Delhi; the forgotten story of how the fabric of a historic Hindu shrine, the Badrinath temple, was saved; the chemistry shared by the prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the archaeologist, Deshpande, at the Ajanta and Ellora cave shrines, and; the political and administrative challenges faced by director generals of archaeology. The book is a must read for anyone interested in India's past in general and the history of Indian archaeology in particular.
Contents
List of Images and Tables
Introducing the Book
PART I ON DESHPANDE
1. Among Independent India's Young Archaeologists
2. A Life in Public Archaeology
3. The Archaeologist and the Prime Minister
4. Director General Deshpande
5. The Archaeologist and the Environmentalist
6. Retirement and After
References
PART II BY DESHPANDE
Early Forays
1. Krsna Legend in the Jain Canonical Literature
2. Bahal 1952-3
Old Sites, New Discoveries
3. Ellora: Two Copper Coins of the Chola King Rajaraja I
4. Bhaja: Important Epigraphical Records from the Chaitya Cave
Cave Shrines: Ajanta, Ellora, Thanala, and Tabo
5. Ajanta Caves: Their Historical Perspective
6. A Walk through the Caves of Ellora
7. Tabo: The Himalayan Ajanta
8. Buddhist Group of Thanala Caves
Archaeology, Ethnography, and History
9. Archaeology's Contribution to History in Recent Times
10. Some Aspects of Folk Religion in the Konkana and Desh Regions of Maharashtra
11. The Siva Temple at Bhojpur
Conserving Monuments: From Gol Gumbaz to Konark
12. Problems of Conservation of Cultural Property in India
13. Gol Gumbad, Bijapur
14. Qutb Minar
15. Konark Sun Temple Archaeologists and Ascetics
16. Professor H.D. Sankalia: The Ekalavya of Archaeology
17. B.K. Thapar: Colleague and Life-Long Friend
18. A Tribute to the Great Ascetic of Bijapur, Padma Shri Kakasaheb Karkhanis: Centenarian Harijansevak
19. Gurudev Ranade: A Single Word That Changed My Life! Reaching Out and Looking Back
20. Monuments and the Child: Experience of an Archaeologist
21. Unearthing the Past: An Archaeologist's Story
Index
About the Author
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