June 25, 2005

TajMahal is mine! - great-great grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar

Very funny to read that , The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the waqf board, an Agra resident... and now one more claimant pledging to be the true Mughal descendant has emerged from Hyderabad for "custodianship" of India's prized Taj Mahal.

It happens only in India !!

'Prince' Yaqub Habeebuddin Tucy , who says he is the great great grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, arrived in Lucknow to stake his claim for the famed 17th century monument in Agra as a "true descendent of the Mughal lineage".

June 23, 2005

Pathetic Chennai Government Museum

Nearly 75 per cent of the bronzes from the Chennai Government Museum's world-famous collection are not on display. The reason: no space and no funds to create space.
.....

"Things would be much smoother if the museum became an independent entity with financial and decision-making autonomy," said an official.
"The British Museum in London uses government support and private donors, but has independence in its operations."
The museum here was considering approaching the Government to restructure its position. "This might improve the overall situation," the official said.
.....

Read the entire article in The Hindu.

Life in Andipatti and Modur during the megalithic periods

Andipatti, (now dont mistake this for Jayalalitha's Andipatti) in Tiruvannamalai district, 15 km from Chengam,TamilNadu, India was under the spade for quite sometime now. ASI has excavated a terracota bull, shell bangles, Mother Goddess figurines, pot shreds with graffiti marks and spindle whorls.

According to the Special Commissioner of Archaeology, T. S. Sridhar, the recent excavations have highlighted the material aspects of civilisation in this part of the country. There had been continuous settlement in Andipatti from the megalithic to the historic period.

More Info .. Click here

Official Site of Archaeological Department of India

After a tedious round of googling, found the official site of Archaeological Department of the Indian Ministry.
Archaeological Survey of India

Few Comments:

1. http://asi.nic.in/ does not go to the ASI main page, but a index page that has a link only to National Informatics Centre (NIC).
2. The title of the page is in a paining font
3. I guess asi.nic.in would win hands down, the worst opener for a website everdone,
"No spectacular event inaugurated the birth of archaeological studies in India. "
So much for being passionate!
4. The site gives basic info. abt the department rather than the monuments in India. They have a link called monuments which has six subdivisions, only one link is working & the others are under construction. very Funny!
5. Only the contact info may be of some use, provided they are being updated regularly.

It is high time, the department pulls up its socks to have an informtive website.

June 22, 2005

Mudhal Mudhalai..

Yahoo! I am on to blogging after many false starts..
Hope to fill it in with my ramblings...
wanna write abt my interests - Archaeology, Current Affairs, Software & Technology, Humanity.....the list goes on...

Natpudan,
Suganthi