in my previous mail I wrongly mentioned Dr. CS Ramachandran instead of Dr. V.S.Ramachandran.. Error regretted.
Time of programme :: 1700 hrs - 1800 hrs on 6.9.2008
Following message also will be helpful. sps
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Dear friends,
You are invited to a talk by
Prof. S. Swaminathan
on
"Preserving the paintings of Sittannavasal"
His talk (details below) would be supported by a slide-show.
Date: 6th September 2008
Time: 5-00 to 6-00 PM
Venue: Vinobha Hall, Takkar Baba Vidyalaya, Venkatanarayana Road, T Nagar
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On the talk
Many of the ancient monuments in India are in the danger of being lost. One such is the Sittannavasal monument complex, in Tamilnadu, particularly the priceless Jain paintings that its cave temple contains. The pre-9th century paintings are second in importance only to the Ajanta paintings in the Indian artistic heritage. The Sittannavasal complex is famous for four heritage sites: a Jain cave temple of pre-9th and the incomparable paintings that it contains, a natural cavern where Jain ascetics practiced austerities from the 3rd century BC onwards, with more than 20 stone beds and inscriptions in Tamil from the 3rd century BC till the 10th century AD, a submerged Hindu cave temple in a tarn and megalithic burials in hundreds. The talk will focus on the paintings and inscriptions, a proposal to preserve them and to sensitise our public towards the importance of our heritage.
The proposal envisages building a heritage complex in the vicinity of the monuments. In the this complex the Jain cave temple can be recreated along with the paintings, and four theme pavilions can be laid out, highlighting four essential aspects of the monuments that have bearing on Indian and Tamil culture: a painting pavilion to focus on the Indian painting tradition, an epigraphy pavilion for showing development of Indian scripts and scripts of many South-east Asian languages from Brahmi, a temple architecture pavilion to trace the development of temple architecture from cave temple, and, finally, a pavilion bringing out the Jain contribution to the Indian heritage.
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About Prof. Swaminathan
S. Swaminathan is a retired teacher of mechanical engineering from IIT, Delhi. As a serious teacher he has attempted a number of experiments in teaching. In his view the thrust of the science and technology establishment should be towards helping the 'poorest of the poor'. His research and development activities were primarily in this direction. Holding to his belief that technology must be human- centred and that there exists a cultural route to development, he even taught a course titled 'Art and Technology'.
Realising that Indian youth have an inadequate understanding of our heritage, and consequently lack a sense of identity, Swaminathan decided to acquaint the students of IIT Delhi with various aspects of our culture. The topics included Indian music, Sanskrit, ancient Tamil literature, Tamil prosody, development of scripts, Gandhian philosophy, etc. He helped in the setting up of a centre for arts and culture, called 'Sudharsanam', in Pudukkottai, his native place, with the twin aims of documenting the heritage of the district and offering an opportunity to the youth to appreciate their culture. He has made a very detailed study of Ajanta paintings and of the scripts of the world. His recent work on the monuments of Mamallapuram is being published to suit different levels of readership.
Presently he is helping an industry in the "culture-scaping" of their special economic zone.
I am interested in reading Prof Swaminathan's books on Ajantha, Ellora and all other books you have mentioned. Where can I get or can you send it to me?