This volume in honour of Dr. R.C. Agrawal collages twenty-six original research papers arranged under two sections:  eight on early historical archaeology and eighteen on Buddhist art and architecture.

The first section, Early Historical Archaeology, includes fascinating results from the recent excavations at Gottiprolu, Sarnath and Talagunda; discussion on the significance of terracotta tablets from Ghoghamba; early historical urban centres in Karnataka; early settlement pattern in Gujarat; pan-Indian maritime trade and its ramifications  in  artistic delineations and; archaeology and history of trade centres in India and its borderlands.

The second section, Buddhist art and architecture, comprises of diverse themes like the assessment of sculptural traditions of Pitalkhora caves; cupid motif in Gandhara art; Buddha’s nativity visuals in Sannati; interesting relics from Rajaghatta; visual depiction of Jataka stories from Aihole; art and architectural manifestations – stupas, viharas and monastic complexes and diverse images in stone and metal, in Odisha, Northeast, Jharkhand besides its glimpses in Tamil Nadu; new-fangled interpretation  of metal image of Sirpur as Mahamayuri Vidyarajni; Buddhist vestiges on the trade routes; pilgrim routes in early eastern India; syncretic Buddhist images from eastern India; Sadaksari Lokesvara and his art forms in Bihar; Tara Bhagavati and her cult in Karnataka; spiritual meaning of Buddhist symbols, Francis Buchanan and his Buddhist encounters and Indian influence in Chinese esthetics etc.

The book will be useful for Archaeologists, Indologists and Art Historians. 

About the Author

C.B. Patil (b. 1950) holds First Class Master’s in Ancient Indian History and Epigraphy (1975) and Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology (1984). He joined ASI as Technical Assistant in Mid-Southern Circle at Bangalore in 1979 and served in various capacities in ASI Directorate Office and Delhi Circle at New Delhi before superannuated as Deputy Superintending Archaeologist from Bangalore Circle in 2009. He teaches antiquarian legislations in the Institute of Archaeology, ASI (New Delhi). He has visited Maldives, Spain, Singapore and China on many archaeological missions. He has been Tagore National Scholar for researching on Illicit Trafficking of Indian Cultural Wealth: Problems and Challenges (2015-17). Besides more than eighty papers, he has four books to his credit.

Vinay Kumar (b. 1976), is a Gold Medalist at M.A. (Archaeology and Heritage Management, 2004) and holds Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology (2005) and M.A. (Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology (2008). He obtained Ph.D. for his work Transformation of West Asian and Greco- Roman Elements in Indian Art (2011). Presently, he is working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Ancient Indian, History, Culture and Archaeology at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Dr. Kumar is a recipient of National Museum of Korea’s Museum Network Fellowship (2014 & 2016) and Nehru Trust Research Grant (2018). He has directed excavations at Matigaon (Pharsand Mohanpur) (2019–22). He has published more than forty-five research papers and has seven books to his credit.