Rock Art ASI to support interdisciplinary studies, says DG Prof K K Basa

Special Correspondent

“ARCHAEOLOGICAL Survey of India (ASI) is putting in sincere efforts to collaborate with the Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for getting access to archaeologists in the biosphere reserves of the country for furtherance of ancient rock art studies,” said Prof Kishor Kumar Basa, Director General, ASI and Chairperson of National Monuments Authority. Prof Basa was speaking after inaugurating the Rock Art Study Unit at ASI’s Pre-History Branch, Puratatva Bhavan, Seminary Hills, on Friday. ASI Directors Dr Nandini Bhattacharya Sahu (Monuments & Publication), Dr P K Mishra (Excavation & Exploration) and Dr K Lourdusamy (West Zone) were present on the dais. Dr S B Ota, Joint Director General (retired), ASI delivered the keynote address.

Prof Basa said that most of the rock art sites are situated in the forest areas of the country. “Efforts are being made to collaborate with the Forest Department as a part of a national programme so that researchers will get an easy access to the rock art sites for studies,” he added. Prof Basa, who himself is a noted anthropologist, expressed confidence that the new unit dedicated exclusively to rock art studies would prepare a bibliography of pictographs, petroglyphs, incised motifs, petroforms and geoglyphs of all the sites in India. “ASI will give institutional support for the interdisciplinary studies on rock art,” he added. Former Vice-Chancellor of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanjdeo University, Baripada, district Mayurbhanj, Odisha, Prof Basa informed that the ASI would be introducing 50 fellowships to persons who passed National Eligibility Test (NET) and State Eligibility Test (SET) and allow them to work on the excavated material. “We are setting an agenda for the country by preparing an indicative list of the archaeological sites to be excavated in near future by taking different universities and state archaeology departments into confidence,” he added.

In his key note address, Dr Ota, who is an authority on pre-historic rock art and conducted research on Bhimbetka rock shelters (included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2003), said, “ Rock art is a valuable heritage and largest cultural repository that provides maximum information about the contemporary community. It reflects humankind’s spiritual and cultural heritage with strong intangible dimension.” Dating methods like AMS dating and Raman Spectroscopy (a non-destructive chemical analysis) techniques can be used to study rock art, he added. He said that the newly set up unit should train archaeologists on documentation and data collection methods for further research work on rock art and published data be checked at ground level. Citing example of Bhimbetka, Dr Ota said that 98 per cent rock art sites are in the forest of Madhya Pradesh and preserved in their pristine natural environment. ASI should interact with state forest departments for district-wise documentation of these sites, he added. Dr Ota stressed the need for an advisory of domain specialists to monitor the works of the Rock Art Unit.

Expressing their views on the occasion, Dr Mishra and Dr K Lourdusamy said that the Pre-History Branch of the ASI should prepare a database of the rock art sites that would help the unit in its task. Earlier, Prof Basa lighted a traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the unit. A photo exhibition on ‘Glimpses of Rock Art of India’ and a panel discussion were also organised on the occasion. Later, Ramesh Mulimani, Superintending Archaeologist, Pre-History Branch, ASI, proposed a vote of thanks. Arun Malik, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Nagpur Circle, Dr Prabhash Sahu, Professor & Head of the Post-Graduate Teaching Department of Ancient, Indian History, Culture & Archaeology, RTMNU, former heads of the Department Dr Chandrashekhar Gupta, Dr K Ismail, Dr Preeti Trivedi, and others were present.