The rock-cut caves at Ellora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are recognised as 'a unique artistic creation and technological exploit'.
Even among the several masterpieces, Cave 21 known as the Ramesvara Cave stands out for its unique sculptures and panels such as those depicting the marriage of Siva and Parvati, Kartikeya, Durga, Ravana shaking Kailasa, Siva and Parvati playing dice, Nataraja Siva, the Sapta Matrikas among others.
In his Talk, "The Ramesvara Cave of Ellora: A Confluence of Regional Lineages" , Prof Deepak Kannal, Art Historian, Sculptor ad Playwright, attempts to identify the various styles of sculpture and trace their regional lineages discernible in this cave. He also focuses on the role of Sutradhara in designing and executing a monument, exploiting the available resources and expertise.
The Speaker:
Prof. Deepak Kannal is an Art Historian, a sculptor and a playwright. He taught at the Department of Art History and Aesthetics, Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU of Baroda, shouldering the responsibilities as the Head of the department and the Dean of the Faculty. His long list of publications includes four books and a monograph, five edited volumes- three of them co-edited with Prof. Ratan Parimoo, three edited journals, three full length plays, three dance dramas and more than seventy papers and articles on Art and Aesthetics to his credit. He has organized and participated in many National/Inter National seminars, has delivered series of lectures for coveted institutes in India, US and UK and was invited on prestigious chairs instituted by various Academies, Museums and Universities.
He is a recipient of a number of awards, scholarships and distinctions in Sculpture, Theatre and Art History including the Charles Wallace fellowship at Cambridge, UK, National Lalit kala akademi’s honorable mention, Gujarat Lalit Kala awards, A.P. Council National award, The Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar, Raja Ravi Verma Samman and the Tagore National Fellowship under which, he completed his research on the correspondence between Indian Linguistic Theories and Indian sculpture. It has been published in a book form titled as “Drigambhrini”.
