Adam Hardy: Temple, Template, Text

If you are in or around Cambridge, the Cambridge Asian Archaeology Group has an upcoming talk.

Professor Adam Hardy (Cardiff University) will be giving a talk entitled

Temple, Template, Text: Making temples in medieval India

Abstract: At Bhojpur in central India where a gigantic temple attributed to the renowned Paramara king Bhoja was left unfinished in the mid-eleventh century. Quarries and incomplete architectural parts are scattered around the temple, and engraved on the rocks are numerous architectural drawings which have been documented for the first time. Ascribed to the same monarch is the Samaranganasutradhara, a Sanskrit treatise on architecture. For the first time its prescriptions are being translated into architectural drawings, a necessary first step for discussing the relationship between a canonical text and the practice of architecture. The talk will discuss how medieval Indian temples were designed, bringing together the drawings, the text, and the evidence provided by buildings themselves.

4.00-5.00pm, South Lecture Room, Division of Archaeology, Downing Site

Open to all.

Image: Bhojpur Mandir. Taken from Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons and can be freely distributed.

SOAS Event

In London with an hour or so to spare? Pop into SOAS today for a talk on Mughal Gardens and Other Approaches to Landscape and Nature/

Abstract

The lecture takes a new view on the Mughal approach to landscape and nature. The foremost characterization of the Mughal garden is its strong architecturalization and it has been plausibly suggested that the Mughals saw in their strictly planned and consistently furnished chahar baghs a means to demonstrate the new order of Mughal rule in India. But it seems that the geometrical aspects of the Mughal garden have diverted our attention from another approach where no regular system is forced upon the landscape. The Mughal padshah claims nature as his own by making a permanent imprint on it with artistic means. It testifies to the extent of the engagement of the Mughals with India that they express themselves here largely in Indian terms.

Where: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery
When: 6.30pm - 9.00pm