Monday, Nov 30:
Inaugural Address: How the Brain represents Space, Time and Numbers.
Dr VS Ramachandran
Dr. VS Ramachandran will explore the fascinating aspects of how Neurology allows us to explore the terra incognita of human nature.
Keynote Address: Gods in Coins
Dr R Nagaswamy
The study of history of heritage is generally attempted with verifiable sources like inscriptions, copper plates, archaeological excavations, historical writings, travelers accounts etc. We do get large number of coins issued by ancient kings which are studied for economic history, identification of the kings, the purchasing power etc. They can also be studied for the impact of lifestyle of one society on the other and often philosophy and religion of the neighbors. For example, The king Krishnadevaraya was a frequent visitor to Tirupati and on one visit he presented a Navaratna makara torana to Venkatcalapati and on that occasion he minted “dodda varaha” in gold, which equaled two varaha, for distribution to vedic scholars and poor people but not as a legal tender. It was a memory of religious fervor in 16th cent. But by and large the coins were issued as legal tenders for money value. There were coins issued by Vijayanagara Venkatapaty with Venkatesa and two consorts Sridevi, and Bhudevi which came to be called “Three swami pagoda” in the 17th cent. In the same period we have a large number of copper coins issued by Vijayaraghunatha Nayak of Tangier who built the Ramaswamy temple at Kumbakonam. This carries the image of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman on the obverse and standing figure of the king with folded hand (adoring Rama) on the reverse which shows his deep faith in Rama and humility of Indian kings as servants of god. In the West Asia, the Great conqueror Alexander the great, issuing a gold coins with his portrait head on one side and the Greek Goddess on the other in the 4thcent BCE. Let us see two coins issued by one of his successor at the beginning of 2nd cent BCE One coin shows his head on one side and Greek goddess on the reverse. The same king has issued another coin which shows Krishna Standing with cakra and sankha in his hands. the legend is in in Brahmi but reading “Agathacleyasa” on one side and the other side, is Balarama with the king’s name in Greek characters. It means there has been a tremendous change in the attitude of the emperor towards Hindu faith. the king was a ruler of Bactria but the coin hoard was found in Afghanistan. The coins were meant to be legal tender used by common man. The impact of Hindu faith in this region which can be seen up to Alexandria in the west and continued up to 2nd third cent Ad, The significance of these finds till the end of Kushana’s, will be discussed in this paper.
Tuesday, Dec 1: Indian Prehistory and Early History
Geographical and Prehistoric Cultural Subdivisions of the Indian Subcontinent
Dr Ravi Korisettar
The presentation traces the history of human settlements across the Indian subcontinent since the Lower Paleolithic times to the end of Neolithic-Iron Age time periods. Archaeological investigations spread over a span of 160 years have shown that prehistoric cultural evolution across the Indian subcontinent was not uniform in time and space. Distinctive cultural provinces are associated with a network of geographical environments which in turn are governed by the variation in the intensity of monsoon precipitation/rainfall across the subcontinent.
The focus of the presentation is on spatio-temporal variation in the way human settlements/early cultures have developed set in a geographical and environmental perspective. The last two decades have witnessed landmark archaeological investigations relating to the absolute chronology of Palaeolithic cultures, understanding of man-land relationships and identification of indigenous development of early food producing way of life across the Indian subcontinent. Based on archaeobotanical and archaeozoological findings domesticated plants and animals native to India and exotic crops from Africa, Southwest Asia and East Asia have been documented.
Tuesday, Dec 1: Indian Prehistory and Early History
The Script of the Indus Valley Civilization: Computational Analysis and Recent Interpretations
Dr Rajesh Rao
More than 4000 years ago, people living in the Indus valley in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India wrote short sequences of symbols on seals, tablets, pottery, and other artifacts. These short texts constitute the Indus script, one of the last major undeciphered scripts of the ancient world. Deciphering the Indus script could have significant ramifications for the way we view the pre-history of the Indian subcontinent today.
In this talk, I will first describe research aimed at analyzing the Indus script using computational and statistical techniques. This analysis provides insights into the syntax of the script and allows a comparison with other scripts encoding natural languages. Such an analysis however does not address the issue of interpreting the symbols (the semantics of the script).
The second part of the talk will focus on how the constraints imposed by syntax and artifact use could suggest possible interpretations. We first discuss competing interpretations for the class of "fish" symbols in the script. We then explore the potentially provocative hypothesis that rather than simply indicating names and ownership of property as traditionally believed, Indus seals may have been an integral part of a pre-coinage system for economic transactions, allowing rapid generation of tokens, tablets and sealings to facilitate exchange of canonical amounts of goods, grains, animals, and labor.
Wednesday, Dec 2nd: Ancient Indian Mathematics
The Magnificence of Brahmagupta’s Bhavana
Dr Amartya Kumar Datta
In mathematics, a law of composition combines (i.e., \composes") two mathematical objects of a certain type to produce a third object of the same type. For instance, it may combine two solutions of a given equation to generate a third solution of the equation, or to combine two expressions of a particular form to yield another expression of the same form. The principle of composition lies at the heart of modern (abstract) algebra and number theory.
A great contribution of Brahmagupta (628 CE) is his introduction of the very idea of composition in early seventh century, through his result which is known by the Sanskrit name bhavana. In this talk we will try to give a historical perspective to help us appreciate the magnicence of Brahmagupta's composition law bhavana.
Brahmagupta's statement is equivalent to an important identity in algebra and number theory. But the presentation of his actual statement as a mere identity, as is often done by mathematicians, misses its real mathematical signicance. We shall discuss this caveat.
Brahmagupta's law is formulated as a principle of composition of solutions of a quadratic equation of the form Nx2+z = y2, where N is a fixed constant. We will present a few ancient and modern applications of his rule.
Brahmagupta's bhavana implies a principle of composition of certain quadratic polynomials called binary forms. We will make a brief reference to two subsequent landmarks: Gauss's composition law (1801) on binary quadratic forms and Manjul Bhargava's composition laws (2001) on polynomials of higher degree.
Thursday, Dec 3rd: Temple Architecture
The Unfolding Universe of Nagara Temple Architecture
Dr Adam Hardy
This talk is about the tradition of temple architecture that predominated across the whole of northern India between the 6th and 12th centuries, continuing with periodical revivals until today. Rather than dwell on particular monuments, I shall try to put across an understanding of the architecture and its principles, in particular a sense of how it was created.
These are the main areas and themes of the talk:
· The importance of typology, as an architectural principle, not merely for classification. Timber origins of early types. Aedicularity: temple composed of temples.
· Nagara and Dravida (northern and southern temple traditions) as architectural languages, underlying different temple forms (general ‘modes’, and specific ‘types’).
· The architectural expression of downward an outward movement (emergence, expansion, proliferation); how this is paralleled by an emanatory pattern of development within the tradition, as the architects draw out one form from another; and how this pattern reflects perennial concepts of cosmogony and manifestation.
Theory and practice: the canonical Sanskrit texts (Vastushastras, Shilpashastras), and how temple designs ‘unfold’ in these texts. I shall focus on an important chapter of the 12th-century Aparjitaprccha, and show a worked example of how to proceed from the text to a temple design.
Thursday, Dec 3rd: Temple Architecture
South Indian Temple Architecture: An Overview and a Comparison
Dr G Sankaranarayanan
South Indian temples can be largely grouped under four sub-groups: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and a Andhra/Odisha one. While the first three are distinct, the Andhra temples display a mix of features from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha. Odisha temples have a mix of North and South Indian features. This talk will explore the temples across these regions and present the commonalities and differences across these geographical regions.
Saturday, Dec 5th: Chola Bronzes
Masters of Fire: Hereditary Bronze Casters of South India - An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective
Dr Thomas E Levy
The talk is based on the book of the same name by Thomas E. Levy, Alina M. Levy, Radakrishna Sthapathy, Srikanda Sthapathy, and Swaminathan Sthapathy, an exploration of the age-old and still continuing traditions of the metal workers of Swamimalai and the techniques of lost-wax method.
Saturday, Dec 5th: Chola Bronzes
Dr Sharada Srinivasan
The Talk will distill Dr Sharada’s extensive research on the archaeometallurgical aspects of ancient mining and metallurgy in southern India as well as her nuanced understanding of the iconography of south Indian bronzes.
Sunday, Dec 6th : Preserving the past for the Future
The Conservation Praxis, Lessons from Ahmedabad and Agra
Dr Jigna Desai
Conservation in India is legally embedded through the actions of the Archeological Survey of India and has recently been strengthened through many new policies and institutional frameworks. In practice many organisations and individual citizens persevere to ensure its success. This talk would, through examples of Ahmedabad and Agra, illustrate the need for many simultaneous actions (international, national, local, personal) in order to initiate and execute the concern of preserving the past for the future.
Sunday, Dec 6th : Preserving the past for the Future
Project Sittannavasal Atyantakama: Proposals for Preservation and Appreciation of Heritage
Prof S Swaminathan
Prof Swaminathan will describe the importance of the monuments at places like Mahabalipuram and Sittannavasal and outline his ideas for not only their preservation but also to enhance the visitor’s experience of their heritage.