Ajanta Caves

The historical features of Ajanta caves form the theme of this article. Its locational significance in relation to ancient trade routes and the allusions to descriptions of the place in epigraphs of Vakataka times, the habitation less than a kilometre from the caves and the circumstances which led to the development of this cave architecture as also the range of patrons who made donations, figure here.

Tabo

The Tabo and Ki monasteries are described here, which are very important for understanding the art of the Gu-ge style that flourished in Western Tibet from the tenth century onwards. This style is best represented at Tabo and is indispensable in the history of art in India because, when Deshpande wrote this piece, it was the only surviving representation of this art here.

The Archaeologist and the Environmentalist

This chapter examines the most interesting as also the least known event of the 1970s when Chandi Prasad Bhatt, pioneer of the Chipko Andolan and M.N. Deshpande , as director general, collaborated to save the Hindu shrine of Badrinath. In 1973, the Birlas, through their charity – the Jayshree trust – had begun constructing a cement and steel structure around the traditional architectural form of the temple. By July-August 1974, because of Bhatt’s intervention in Lucknow and in Badrinath, this work came to a halt. A high powered government committee carefully examined the Badrinath makeover by the Birlas and Deshpande became the man whose report provided a hard-hitting indictment of what the temple had been reduced to. For Chandi Prasad Bhatt, safeguarding the Badrinath temple’s traditional form mattered as much as saving trees. It was a vision that Deshpande shared. Once construction work halted there, Deshpande practically took over matters hand and eventually, it was his planning and foresight which resulted in ensuring that a historic temple shrine was not converted into a kind of Birla temple.

Retirement and After

This is the concluding chapter and looks at Deshapande’s retirement years. The most noteworthy aspect was his work at the Western Indian rock-cut caves, where he returned to field research with vigor, consciously attempting to fill in the research void of his director-general years. Additionally, the writings that he did and the lectures that he gave as also his own public engagement in conservation and outreach are highlighted here. He clearly stood away from the Ramjanmabhoomi movement in Ayodhya and during those years, in fact, emphasized the inclusiveness of Bhakti. His was not a vision which had visualized the modern destruction of monuments by well-organized mobs. He eventually passed away some three decades after he left the Archaeological Survey, on August 7, 2008.

Professor H.D. Sankalia

This obituary of H.D. Sankalia was originally written in Marathi. As the English translation underlines, it captures unknown facets of the archaeologist as a researcher and a teacher, as also a slice of the history of the Deccan College where he spent most of his working life.

Director General Deshpande

Deshpande’s years as director-general of the Archaeological Survey (1972-1978) forms the focus of this chapter. A lot of what Deshpande presided over was familiar territory, the sort of work which he had done earlier. The direction of research of the Archaeological Survey of India in the fields of prehistory and historical research is specially highlighted because this evidently shows that it was not merely the Harappan Civilization that it concerned itself with, as is so often thought. At the same time, as the chapter demonstrates, there was much that now happened in terms of monument conservation because of the interest taken by politicians. The protection of Hari Parbat in Srinagar because of Sheikh Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and the interest of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in safeguarding India’s heritage are discussed here. These were, in fact, challenging times for the Archaeological Survey in terms of its public image and in Deshpande’s tenure, there was relentless parliamentary and public scrutiny of the organization. All of this is carefully examined in this analysis of the years that Deshpande spent at the helm of the Archaeological Survey.

A Walk through the Caves of Ellora

This is an English translation of a Marathi piece that Deshpande wrote for children. It provides a detailed, evocative description of many of the caves at Ellora and reflects not just on the beauty of the place but also the author’s empathy and understanding of its sculptures and the sentiments captured there.

B.K. Thapar

B.K. Thapar was Deshpande’s colleague at the Archaeological Survey as also a very close friend. This obituary captures facets of his career and what they shared from the time they first met in 1944 at Taxila.

Some Aspects of Folk Religion in the Konkana and Desh Regions of Maharashtra

The earliest perceptible remnants of folk religion in the form of archaeological evidence is examined here. These range from ithyphallic specimens in chalcolithic Daimabad to the representation of deities such as Yakshas, Nagas and mother goddesses in Buddhist caves. The continuities in modern times that are extensively mentioned here makes this a reading that is of interest for understanding folk religion across time.

Monuments and the Child

How visits to monuments should be planned for children in order to make them imbibe a proper appreciation of archaeology and its facets is explained in this article.