Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:53:06.900Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Excavating the eternal: an indigenous archaeological tradition in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Michael A. Cremo
Michael A. Cremo*
Affiliation:
*Bhaktivedanta Institute, 9710 Venice Blvd. # 5, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USA (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Archaeological investigation in India begins conventionally with the interest of Europeans. But India's own historical texts reveal examples of indigenous, curiosity-driven fieldwork as early as the sixteenth century. Describing the systematic search for lost sacred images and sites in places associated with Krishna's earthly pastimes, the author makes a spirited case for regarding this activity as real archaeology, comparing it with today's heritage projects.

Keywords

IndiaVrindavanHinduindigenous archaeologyVaishnava
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 315 , March 2008 , pp. 178 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apte, V.S. 1965. The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary (fourth revised and enlarged edition). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Asher, C.B. 1996. Kacchavaha pride and prestige: the temple patronage of Rāja Māna Sim. ha, in Case, M.H. (ed.) Govindadeva: a dialogue in stone (Vraja Nathadvara Prakalpa 2): 215–38. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.Google Scholar
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, A.C. 1996. Śri Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Goswami, Krishnadasa Kaviraja (English translation and commentary, with original Bengali text, in 9 volumes). Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.Google Scholar
Bhakti Ratnakara See Narahari Chakravarti Thakura.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, S.K. 1996. Krishna-Cult in Indian Art. New Delhi: M.D. Publications.Google Scholar
Brahmacari, R.D. 1999. The Colour Guide to Rādhā Kuṇḍa. Vrindavan: Vedanta Vision Publications.Google Scholar
Bryant, E. 2003. Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God (Śrimad Bhāgavata Purāṇ a Book X) (translated and introduced by Bryant, E.F.). London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Chakrabarti, D.K. 1988. A History of Indian Archaeology from the Beginning to 1947. NewDelhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.Google Scholar
Entwistle, A.W. 1987. Braj: Centre of Krishna Pilgrimage (Groningen Oriental Studies 3). Groningen: Egbert Forsten.Google Scholar
Goswami, S. 1996. Govinda darśana: lotus in stone, in Case, M.H. (ed.) Govindadeva: a dialogue in stone (Vraja Nathadvara Prakalpa 2): 269–77. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.Google Scholar
Growse, F.S. 1883. Mathura: A District Memoir, third edition. Allahabad: Northwestern Provinces and Oudh Government Press (reprinted 1979, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services).Google Scholar
Haberman, D.L. 1994. Journey through the twelve forests: an encounter with Krishna. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Swami, Mahanidhi. 1995. Rādhā Kuṇḍa Mahimā Madhurī (The sweet glories of Rādhā Kuṇḍ a). Bombay: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.Google Scholar
Thakura, Narahari Chakravarti. Bhakti Ratnakara, Fifth Wave, in Mathura Mandala Parikrama (translated by Pundarika Vidyanidhi). 1992. Vrindavan: Vrajraj Press.Google Scholar
Thakura, Narahari ChakravartiBhakti-Ratnakara, anon. English translation from the website http://www.russiantext.com/russian_library/library/asiatica/indica/authors/narahari_cakravarti/br-total.docGoogle Scholar
Rocher, L. 1986. The Purāṇ as. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Sharma, R.C. 1994. The Splendour of Mathura Arts & Museum. New Delhi: DK Printworld.Google Scholar
Trigger, B.G. 1989. A History of Archaeological Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vaudeville, C. 1976. Braja, lost and found. Indo-Iranian Journal 18: 195–213.Google Scholar
Vaudeville, C. 1980. The Govardhan myth in northern India. Indo-Iranian Journal 22: 1–45.Google Scholar