Speaking Archaeologically™

  Ever since I moved to Delhi to pursue my further education, I’ve travelled around a large part of the country to explore several heritage sites and places of cultural importance. Whenever I’m far away from my home or the cultural geography I’m most familiar with, there’s always a sense of adventure and unfamiliarity associated with the new landscape but never fear. Railways have made travelling very safe, easy, and fast which leads to this ease. H owever, it also makes me think about how life would’ve been before the railways were built and the rule of law was established in India. A large chunk of the travel routes in India were fraught with thugs and ‘phansigars’ during the 19th century and British cavalry and soldiers were deployed on these routes to make them safe for the travellers. Captain Sleeman’s writings have, in a rather exaggerated manner, painted the picture of the dangers travellers and pilgrims faced during this time of history where they could be either killed in ...

  After that extremely eventful session, we ventured out on a rainy Chandigarh afternoon to visit the Le Corbusier Museum. If you are looking for a place to really understand the entire historical journey of the city of Chandigarh, this is your place. From letters between Prime Minister Nehru and Corbusier, the architect of Chandigarh, to large maps detailing the city’s plan, this museum was a fresh and exciting space to visit. We saw Harappan artefacts that had been unearthed when the city’s foundations were being laid, and glimpsed at the personal belongings of the architect himself- his chair, paintings and sketches, and the ‘open hand’ concept the city was based on. We were a little amused and (and slightly irked) with one very curious staff member. “Don’t get too close!”, “Don’t sit there!” “Don’t touch the lights!” Someone was REALLY passionate about their job.  Our hotel being just a few minutes from the museum, and it being a beautiful drizzly day, Diparka and I saw th...

  Day 1: Here it All Starts! "Wow, this is what Haryana looks like," I thought to myself as I gazed out of the car window at a bright July sky. I was finally going to meet the entire Speaking Archaeologically Research Wing in person after a month of online meetings. The All-India Meet was going to be a workshop where all 13 members from various parts of the country would gather together and have practical sessions for the first time. Even though I had already met the majority of the members in Chandigarh three days prior during another workshop, this would be different. Was I nervous? Totally, and that made me a little more overwhelmed. I never anticipated that barely a month after joining SA, I would visit the Bhima Devi temple, one of the most important sites for our organisation. "Will I be able to fit in?" I wondered, as I couldn't help but wonder how my day would go, how it would not just be about exchanging ideas but also about getting to know each other b...

  Crouched on my couch, editing each picture one after the other I remember my phone gallery filled with images of  illustrated manuscripts that evening. Now, these pictures were sent from the Central State Library of Solan to the Research Wing members from various locations. The digitization project had also occurred digitally. Some of these ancient documents were infested with mite, some had damaged folios and some were very intact and aesthetic to look at. But they were all emblazoned  with Solan’s royal ancestry. Illustrated paper manuscripts from Solan’s Central State Library Having said that, let me walk you through the project’s journey. On August 29, 2022, as I was getting ready for college with zero enthusiasm because it was Monday, I heard a notification, ting. Shriya ma’am had left a voice message for the Research Wing which made my Monday morning surprisingly exciting. Finding manuscripts in our area that might be in our family’s forgotten possessions or in p...