subject: Archaeology Of Early Orissan Temple, Bikaner Golden Jubilee? [print this page] From the 6th to 11th centuries, there appeared, on Orissas sacred landscape, a large number of temples. Which exercised a powerful influence on the cultural life in this eastern Indian region. Earlier approaches to the study of temples tend to perpetuate an over-determined reading of art. They either objectify the temple aesthetically as a non-living, static monument with architectural complexities; or institutionalize it as a symbol of royal legitimacy. As a result, temple architecture in Orissa is almost invariably discussed within a unilinear evolutionary context, ignoring its material and cultural basis that sustains it, as an institution.
A marked departure from the existing studies, this book tries to explore the extended, and possibly continuous, relationship between temple and the community. The monument, says the author, has also a life after its making and can interact with its users over a time in significant ways beyond the intention of its artists, reflecting the dynamism beneath its architectural configuration.
Subash Khamaris study is perhaps the first effort to investigate the relationship between the Orissas temple and its community -- patrons, artists, priests, and laity, and how the temple played an important role in the cultural life of the region in the early centuries of the Common Era. Using wide-ranging sources, including architectural, epigraphic, and even ethnographic, the author painstakingly documents as many as 233 temples in the pre-Jagannath period: 6th-11th centuries with focus on segmentation of space, elaboration, narratives, rituals, and survival of temple. Khamari, thus, initiates a new direction in the study of the Orissan temple, says Professor Himanshu Prabha Roy of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
Subash Khamari is currently Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Excavation Branch, Nagpur.
The book is an exquisite volume presenting the life and achievements of His Highness Maharajah Sri Ganga Singhji Bahadur of Bikaner who ascended the throne of Bikaner and reigned for 50 years (1887-1937).
The history of Bikaner is an account filled with heroic exploits of brave kings and their magnificent gallantry. Under the British, the state came to be governed by a Council of Regency, when Maharaja Ganga Singhji Bahadur ascended the throne as a minor. The new maharaja, Ganga Singhji, regained full ruling powers in 1898. The volume deals with his attempts to modernise the administrative machinery of the state and bring to the people the benefits of education and medical relief. It highlights his vision and perseverance and his commitment to re-build Bikaner by diverting waters of the Sutlej into the desert and making it a flourishing land of green fields, thriving villages and prosperous towns. It views his contributions a s a statesman and his administrative prowess in particular, and his achievements as a sportsman.
The focus of the volume is on the golden jubilee celebration in 1937 marking 50 years of his ascension of the throne. With numerous colourful pictures of the maharaja of Bikaner and some royal heirlooms, it gives a detailed account of the state celebration: the presence of many notable British and Indian officers and statesmen, speeches on the occasion, other events organised that included military tournaments and importantly the Jubilee Durbar when the Maharaja addressed the audience announcing introduction of numerous reforms to modernise the state. It also covers the crowning event of the Jubilee celebrations, that is, the magnificent elephant procession with which the viceroy made his entry into the desert city.
