Speaking Archaeologically™

Have you ever looked at an ancient monument or sculpture Trishla is a research wing member at Speaking Archaeologically since August 2018 and wondered : how it is, that our ancient civilisations, armed with just a set of primitive tools, were able to conceptualise and execute them ? I know I have . But everytime a teacher responded with "That's for you to find out" and multiple google searches led me to the famous "Maybe the God's built it..?" or my mothers favourite, "Alien theory," I put aside my rather genuine inquiry only to forget about it completely-until it hit me again on site at Sanghol. If you haven't read my last blog here, where I took about how we reached the site, its history and present status, it would be a good idea to read that first for what we call "more context". In this blog I'll only be dishing on how we resourcefully tackled our biggest handicap at the Sanghol site which as I had mentioned in that...

“The past is a foreign country and art is the passport to it.” - Anonymous If my life could be a testament to anything it would probably be to the fact that staying up post three scrolling through Instagram while sipping on your second cup of espresso can land you in the most unexpected of places; sometimes ,even the right places. Now don’t get me wrong , I don’t mean to recommend such unhealthy behavior to anyone reading this but that is how I came across ‘Speaking Archaeologically’s’   Instagram handle some three months ago. Needless to say i t wasn't long before I fell in love with history all over again  and decided this organisation was something I wanted to be a part of . What followed that was me applying the famed and oft used three fold Bollywood strategy to get anything you want in life, which in this case included religiously stalking the Instagram page for recruitment posters or declarations, working hard to prove I’m worthy by sending in submissions and final...

Our 2017 Research Wing has been out and about since they joined us last September. Watch this short video summarising their activities so far.

What comes to your mind when I talk of an Archaeological recording workshop? A formal site visit led by a regimented Task In-charge?   If yes, then let me help you get rid of this preconception. Because the Speaking Archaeologically site visits are nothing like that. On the fine Sunday morning of 15th October,  I embarked on the bus journey from Chandigarh to Pinjore. Though I had visited the place before, but never knew there was a temple too. Anyway, it was a 45 minute long journey and I spent the whole time trying to wrap up the essay we had to submit the same day. I reached there by noon as we all were supposed to, where Shriya greeted us all warmly (See, what did I say? No formalities). We walked further, got onto the site, had a session on Hindu temples and conferred about them in detail. Studied Hinduism in its primary form, discussed Tantra, Mantra and Yantra, familiarized ourselves with different Gods, including the one pictured below. That's Ishana (Moon)...

The chills one feels when someone visits a mesmerizing  place! That's how I felt when I went for an Indo-Saracenic Revival and Art competition that Government Degree College, Kandaghat organised in their premises in collaboration with Speaking  Archaeologically.  Kandaghat is an idyllic little sleepy town,  situated near Solan in Himachal Pradesh, so picturesque that it took my heart away. It its very heart, it holds a beautiful building constructed  by Maharaja Patiala that combines Mughal, Rajputana and Mock-Tudor  styles of architecture-something that is defined as Indo Saracenic Architecture, an outcome of the British Rule in India. Maharaja Patiala built this for his ailing Uncle, Maharaja Dhaulpur of Malerkotla, when the latter was detected with tuberculosis. For the last few years, the building was left neglected and was set to be demolished to construct a College in its place but the Principal of the College, Mrs  Navita Gau...

Let the rooms be filled with shared beliefs and the walls speak of a cultural blend Let the doors open to rediscover and preserve a forgotten heritage. Indo Saracenic or a blend of Indian and Persian art has left its permanence in the history of India. Be it during the period of the greatest dynasty, that is, the Mughals or after its decline, this style continued to flourish in the schools of Deccan, Rajasthan and Punjab Hills even under the British Raj. With the popularity of Miniature paintings and the European influence during the end of Akbar's reign, the detailing, realistic appearance, use of soft or bright colours and embellishments made this form of Art and Architecture stand out. With an aim of reviving the Indo Saracenic art form and letting it highlight one's own culture and heritage, the last Workshop of Speaking Archaeologically proved to be an opportunity for the young artists to showcase their talent. The Government Degree College at Kandaghat, distr...

On the sultry, hot afternoon of 11th September a group of eager archaeologists in the making (not really but this hope might help us  sleep better at night) gathered at this not so historical but extremely aesthetic cafe called S-Cafe. *Inserts side note, it has a great bar, 10/10. Would recommend even to a teetotaller.* It started off as most SA workshops do, with Shriya reaching on time and waiting for her volunteers to show up. After the formalities were addressed we were asked to take out our surgical gloves because no where in the rule book does it say that only surgeons get to have fun.The thought of Woodwork all the way from Africa had my heart and rear end thumping to the beats of Ngoma. Each of us were given a precious hand out which contained information to build the basis of not only the workshop but also provided a bird's eye view into the life of Bembé tribe (and tribals). The workshop aimed to teach us object analysis and this led to...

Each coin has a story to narrate, which may either be outlined on it's either side or hidden inside the covers of rust and dust. To get familiar to these hidden tales and to unfold the mysteries veiled in the metallic discs, the first workshop that was organised for the New Volunteers of Speaking Archaeologically was the Coinage Workshop.  The history of coins extends from the ancient times to the present, and is related to economic history, the history of minting technologies and the history shown by the engraved words and images. A single metal piece, unfurling a number of secrets is what attracts the lovers of this subject.  The workshop was held on the 4th of September at   S Cafe  and Bar, Chandigarh. The dim lights and the dusky-wooden shades adorning the walls of the Cafe created a perfect atmosphere. Without any delay, Shriya opened up the coins album which was welcomed all the energy that was present in the room. The enthusiasm and...

Fabric on Display When the word ‘Silk’ is mentioned, it immediately conjures an image of waves of light and luxurious fabric in bright jewel colours. However, when I get to talk about the ‘Silk Workshop’ of Speaking Archaeologically , all that I may ponder upon is the golden-mauve Thai Silk costume or the Chinese emerald-green Silk dress. After a series of written tasks, team tasks and Museum visits, the Silk Workshop acted as a source of recreation. The workshop was held in MCM DAV College, Chandigarh (Firstly, because the College staff calls it Shriya’s second home and secondly because more than half of the volunteers were students of this college,) A powerpoint presentation was prepared to highlight SA’s journey so far, it’s aim, achievements and all the activities that the volunteers were involved in.  Athira and Tarannum in  the traditional Chinese and Thai National Dresses    As I entered the Conference room, (the venue), the first ...

An Album, a Stock book and the sheets from the Workshop If I have to talk about this workshop, it was probably one of the hardest we had to organise. Stamps are almost impossible to link with archaeology but what's harder is getting them 'Workshop ready', especially since the Panel was borrowing from a private collection, which already had  been exhibited. The risk involved was too much! So, was the security I had already paid for it. (I was handling stamps worth a million dollars that afternoon and taking them amidst my bunch of loons to a place where coffee spills aren't uncommon, wasn't exactly risk free (we had some stamps right from the 1850s!) So, amidst all the stress and the tension, the Philately Workshop finally happened on January 31, 2016. The first job was to talk about what is a stamp, really? The Roland Hill idea behind paid postage, the history of this tiny scrap of paper which we were going to link with the past... There were also qu...

Or shall we call it, The Second Half of the Workshop on Coinage ? I am very Shakespearean about names. What's in a  name after all?  I am sure the whole thing would still be a workshop on Medieval Painting even if it happened right after we finished working with those gorgeous coins.  So, there we were, still at The Rumour Mill , fed and watered and finally ready to start working on the gorgeous Basholi and Kangra Paintings, Speaking Archaeologically had been lucky enough to procure from private collections. Now to say that those paintings were a work of art is an understatement! The phrase"work of art" doesn't even begin to describe the intricate brushwork and the gorgeously innovative use of molten gold and silver for painting, that these paintings employed so heavily. Humayun, in the court of Shah Tahmasp I I suppose, I cannot  leave a bit of the history of these paintings out , if I have to do justice to what we did on the workshop. So, basica...

One of the first things we'd been hearing about SA Volunteers, when we enrolled, was the Volunteers'  Workshop and most of us could hardly wait. By the time the Workshop became a reality, we had already finished our first week of assignments and had started interacting briefly with each other on WhatsApp Task Forums and Facebook.  A Standard SA Observation Sheet on Coins A few days before the workshop,  the we started receiving picture messages on WhatsApp, showing us the coins we would be studying and asking us to bring along any old ones we might have at home,  for the purpose of study.  Those of us who were bringing coins were also asked to make a preliminary observation sheet such as this one, right here.  Soon, a message was circulated on the Volunteer Workshop Kit, which was basically a list of odd items we were supposed to carry with us to the workshop.  Finally, after a last minute venue change, the day for the first S...