Speaking Archaeologically™

SA is all about understanding history in every possible way, which obviously includes a lot of museum tours and workshops. The tour to Shimla State Museum, though, was different : only three privileged members Vedant Chandel, Vidushi Chandel and I were a part of it, because we wanted to stay active for otherwise inactive weeks and work on regional archaeology. Since all three of us hail from Shimla,  we teamed up for the tasks ahead and thus The State Museum, Shimla was finalised as the place of our research. We walked all the way from Chotta Shimla to the  Museum, a path that covered at least three of the major heritage walks of Shimla. It took us about an hour and to reach it, and although it was tiresome, we still had fun. The State Museum Shimla is housed in a Victorian mansion, carefully altered to the requirements of a museum. It is built on the hilltop of  ‘Inveram’  and is ,sometimes, known by this name, too. It belonged to General Innes in the 1860sl...

Guru Ram Rai Darbar in 1858 From the very early years of my life, I have been exposed to all the diverse cultures of India. However, Sikhism has always, somehow, formed a greater part of the influence. Be it my ancestral village, my paternal house or even my current abode in Dehra, I've always been surrounded by a Gurudwara with the blessings of the Guru upon me. My December task (which if I recall correctly, was on regional archaeology) was to write on the Guru Ram Rai Darbar from a historical point of view and archaeological observations. Now the beauty of living in Dehra lies in the fact that once you start exploring the winding lanes, you cannot escape from leaving any place undiscovered. This served me well when I had to pen down my essay for this holy place.   Shri Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib in Dehradun is a philanthropic organization of the Udaseen sect . Sri Guru Ram Rai ji, the eldest son of the seventh Guru of the Sikhs- Sri Har Rai ji, had established ...

February 16, 2016 Dear diary, Rani Haar from Chamba You know I’ve been running out of topics  to talk to you about but today,I have something particular to share with you.  Well, it’s hard to find a girl who isn’t fond of jewellery, I am no exception!  I’m obsessed with jewellery, not merely for its beauty or value, but the sentiments people have attached to them. It might be a gift or a souvenir by a loved one, especially grandparents, which is priceless. And so,  as you know, February was fun for me in SA because  my weekly task was about catalogues, for which Shriya had provided us with the jewellery pieces of Jammu and Kangra. To my delight, the very next task was about jewellery again, but it was even better, because I had to work on regional jewellery of Upper Shimla, a task, which, for me, was synonymous with home.  Of all the things we'd done in SA so far, it was this particular task that brought me closer to my roots. I ...

As a pleasant, windy November melted into a foggy December , the First Season of Speaking Archaeologically Volunteers came to an end, too. I was going to miss these loons I had spent the last one month working with and tutoring. All of us were going to miss them! That's why, there had to be a proper farewell, because some of them were leaving SAV for good. You'd think, it'd take time for a bunch of college students and an archaeologist, who has never met them outside the formal work environment, to bond. Don't be deceived! These kids know how to dig stories and anecdotes out of you, even the cringe-worthy personal details, and it's only fair they dig so well-they are archaeologists-in-making, after all! A lot happened over coffee and lunch that day-enough to get us kicked out of the restaurant. I'll shut up now and let you watch what happened before you go on to read the End-of-the-Season Report!

Shan-e-Hind, the Indian End of Hussainiwala Border I think it is pretty unfair that all we ever associate Indo-Pak borders with, is the flag ceremonies:hoisting and beating the retreat. Hussainiwala is not exception!  And so, after a sad, halfhearted goodbye to the Jain Temples of Zira, we made our way to Hussainiwala, for a doze of British Indian history and its forgotten sites. I was too tired to take anymore pictures though the way to the Border is lined with meadows, forests and even lotus in the small ponds. I heard Dad explain to us the double-ditch defence strategy and that was the only remotely interesting to spark an interest in my tired, aching brain.  We reached Hussainiwala an hour too early for the parade and spent the time taking pictures of Shan-e-Hind gate. I never warmed up to the idea of the flag ceremonies.  They are just the same and seem to say something entirely different from what they actually mean.  So, even on that day...

The Complete Feature                          It's a big deal for the Panel and the Volunteers when we make it to a National Daily like the  Hindustan Times. We, at, Speaking Archaeologically,  thank all of you for your love, support and encouragement to all of us as we strive to prevent  Forgotten History from becoming Forgotten Culture! A Closer look at what we said!

Top:  The Svetambara Temple at Zira, Bottom Left: The Newly Renovated Svetamabar Temple, Lehra Bottom Right : The Digambara Temple, Zira This one is to be a jumbled up post because I am late with this. My memory shouldn't,  but might, fail.  So, here's what happened on the day we went to Zira to see the Jain Temples .  Now, there were conflicting opinions on the temple and how old it was. Also, there's very limited record of it anywhere so, it was nothing short of surprising that I found out about it at all. Sitting at the dinner table, I wondered out loud that if it was indeed 1200 years old, it would be an ancient temple,  very very significant for SA and me because that would place it between circa 800-1000AD. We drove to Zira with the music playing and the sky a beautiful blue in front of us.   Zira is about 35 kms away from Ferozepur Cantonment and was a disputed territory during the Partition of 1947.  On reaching, I was surpris...

Our first visit to Government Museum was back in November, like Aditi Joshi told you , which started with an interactive lecture on geological periods from our very own Shriya Gautam. What followed were a series of interactive sessions on the development through the prehistoric eras. Finally, we arrived at the Art Gallery, where we were split into teams for our very first team task (Again, we have come a long way from there. But, yes, this was where it all began). I remember not having my partner around, the "now in vogue" Rakshanda Thakur.  So, as it turned out we were given our own sections to work with, I for one got textile Chamba Rumals on display, Textile Section Chandigarh Museum and disappointed (little did I know what was to come). As far as I can recollect, the others got subjects ranging from Mughal paintings to Manuscripts. We were given our own private time with our sections to narrow down on the subjects. And narrow down is what we did, to Cha...

The Main Temple Premise The week following the Diwali break was all about books, delicacies, long drives and visiting sites! Being a Doonite, I had very enthusiastically offered to cover one of the most auspicious sites in the town: The temple of Tapkeshwar Mahadev. The temple holds significance as one of the oldest Shiva ling is in the cave nearby where the river enters and water drops drip down on the Shiva ling (there by its name "Tap-keshwar"). The water that drops down vanishes underground and can be seen only few yards away in the form of a stream. The temple premises hold many cool sulphur-water springs where devoted pilgrims take bath before entering the temple. The small cave with this splendid scenery is said to be once resided by Dronacharya- the teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas in Hindu holy epic Mahabharata written by Ved Vyas. The cave is named Drona Cave after him. Drona Cave There is a saying that "If the stars and deities wish it, you are l...

Which is completely different and totally better than Rakshanda and Vedant's partnership which the Panel has decided to do a feature on. Which doesn't bother us.  At all. Before I, Athira, start writing about the details of my first With Arundhati and Anmol in the Doll's Museum partnership I'd like to explain how the both of us ended up as partners.  Shriya had just organised our first workshop on coinage and provided us with the task of writing a report on the coins we had observed during the workshop. The results were announced and guess what? I had FAILED the task. Yes, FAILED. Not lost the task, FAILED the task. Also, I wasn't the only one FAILING the task, there were others and one amongst them had been her. It was then that the task for the ones who had just FAILED was provided and partners assigned. A tragic start to the beautiful, wonderful, awe-inspiring, totally better than Rakshanda and Vedant's, bond we share now.  A barch o...