Kalpavrksa- Essays on Art, Architecture and Archaeology

ABOUT THE BOOK This volume of selected essays comprises 12 papers, covering prehistory, proto-history, epigraphy. religion and art & architecture of India and abroad. The main aim of this book is to focus on the recent discovery of the author in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh besides systematic and critical study of various academic components of archaeology. The Study on the memorial stone (Rune stone) in Sweden is an added attraction of the present work.

This first article deals with diverse significant stages of pre and proto historic cultures of Madhya Pradesh, its strati-graphy and techniques. The next two essays discuss about the important epochs under the Buddhist influences and the recent discovery of an edifice of Gupta period in Madhya Pradesh. Fourth article gives an outline of Roman pottery and the latest study of imported ceramics reported at Arikamedu, while the fifth article following it present a vivid picture on the Memorial stone (rune stone) in Sweden.

The next seven papers relate to various ideological aspects of Tamil Nadu. The sixth article narrates the rock art tradition and its distribution whereas the seventh one elucidates the recent trends in the study of Tamil-Brahmi Script. The next two essays deal with the Buddhist vestiges and their significance. The tenth and eleventh articles delve deep into the recently noticed monolith and cave-temple. The book winds up with an article on the excavations at Darasuram, District Tanjavur.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. D. Dayalan presently working as Deputy Superintending Archaeologist in the Archaeological Survey of India, Vadodara Circle, Vadodara, obtained his Master's Degree in Ancient History and Archaeology from the University of Madras and Post-graduate Diploma in Archaeology from School of Archaeology, New Delhi. He stood first in M.A. in Madras University for which he received the award. He holds Doctorate degree from the Nagpur University, Nagpur in 1990.

Since his inception in the Archaeological Survey of India in 1984, he has actively participated in the exploration and excavations. He discovered a good number of sites through his explorations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh and participated in several excavations at Ramapuram, Vallam, Aurovalle, Darasuram, Arikamedu, Mamallapuram, Sanchi, Satdhara, Kanaganahalli, Hampi, etc.

Dr. Dayalan author of two books, Early Temples of Tamil Nadu: Their Role in Socio-Economic Life (c. A.D. 550-925) and Monolithic Temples of Madhya Pradesh has contributed several research papers to leading journals on Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Art and Architecture. He is a recognised examiner for Doctoral examination for many Universities.

He has been invited in 1993 to Sweden to deliver lectures in Uppsala University. He also visited France, United Kingdom and Germany in academic ventures.

In 2001 he has participated in the ACCU International Exchange Programmer under the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust for the promotion of International Co-operation and studied the Management system and Conservation of various World Heritage Monuments in Japan.

PREFACE The collection of essays included in this volume to appear shortly may be seen to cover many and varied laces of archaeology, culture, history, religion and art and architecture. Notwithstanding each of the essays or even all of them together, certainly cation reveal the full dimensions of our cultural legacy, these are few of the attempts of the author to share the details of his discoveries, field studies and researches with his colleagues in the historical field and try to unveil the curtain of the past along the comers, however faintly, It has been the privilege and passion of the author as an archaeologist by profession to dabble in quite a few of the academic components of archaeology for venturing into the dim past and also to browse in the multiple splendors of our rich cultural heritage.

The bunch of selected articles brought together in this volume deal mainly the manifestations of art and archaeological legacies of two major regions in India, Le, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh where the author had the opportunity to probe into their inexhaustible trans mutational spectrum of cultural vestiges. Madhya Pradesh, set in the heartland of India, has been a junction of different cultural traits. The primitive man opted to set up his camps in this region owing to the availability of raw materials, wide variety of fauna and flora for his subsistence, perennial source of water in the form of rivers etc. in this area. The discovery of numerous pre and proto historic sites in Madhya Pradesh elucidates the vistas and mannerisms of these cultures prevailed there. The long span of art and architectural matrix of Madhya Pradesh nurtured by various religious faiths, cross fertilize with different art traditions and blossomed in the form of kaleidoscopic fanes and thrilling sculptures, all over. Tamil Nadu, again, has a hoary past, form a perennial source of attraction for scholars and connoisseurs due to its rich religio-artistic legacies. This region has served as unique cauldron where different religious faith and sects have intermingled and given birth to an art tradition sumptuous in both aesthetic and cultural articulations, Some of the discoveries by the author included in this volume as an article form added to the ever expanding study of our cultural legacy. The author's attempt to study the Rune stone (Sepulchral stone) in Sweden and the Roman pottery are also represented in this volume.

The author has received co-operation, encouragement and guidelines from mumber of scholars and friends, while preparing these articles. He is especially beholden to late Prof. Ajai Mitra Shastri, who was instrumental in enlarging the horizon of his historical knowledge. The author respectfully dedicate this work to the memory of this savant. He express his sincere thanks to late Dr. Krishna Deva, Director (Rtd.), Shri K.V. Soundara Rajan, Additional Director General (Rudd.) and Prof. Y. Subbarayalu, Tanjavur for their critical assessment and suggestions to some of the papers. He is immensely grateful to Prof. Peter Schalk, Uppsala University, Sweden for his help to study the Rune Stones in Sweden. The author gratefully acknowledges the help received from Mr. Richard Huron, British Museum, London to study and take photograph of Roman pottery in British Museum. He express sincere thanks to Shri K. Kumar, Research Scholar, Madras University arul Mrs. K. Moortheswari. Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai for bringing to the knowledge of the author about the Monolithic temple at Pudur and the Cave-temple at Avur respectively.

His thanks are due to his colleagues and friends for their encouragement and co-operation. Particularly he takes this opportunity to thank S/Shri H. Michael and N. A Salved for having enhanced the get-up of the book by their photographs; and Miss. Sunipa Mukhopadhyay. Archaeological Survey of India for checking the script. He thanks the Archaeological Survey of India for the kind supply of the photographs.

Thanks in ample measure are no less due to Shri C.P. Gautam, M/s. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, New Delhi for publishing the volume in a decent manner.

**Contents and Sample Pages**