City Kemp News
Natyasruti’s Multimedia Lectures June 2015
Venue: The Indian Heritage Academy Hall, near Koramangala Police Station
Dates: 7th June and 14th June
Time: 5 pm
On Sunday 7th June at 5pm
Dr Chithra Madhavan speaks on “The temples of Cambodia
Dr CHITHRA MADHAVAN, an archaeologist and historian, is famous for her illustrated lectures on a wide range of historical topics, of interest to both the expert and the layman She is the author of six books – ‘History and Culture of Tamil Nadu’ (two volumes), ‘Vishnu Temples of South India’ (three volumes) and ‘Sanskrit Education and Literature in Ancient and Medieval Tamil Nadu’.
Cambodia is known across the world today for the Angkor temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, of which the temple of Angkor Wat is the crown jewel. This 12th century Vishnu temple, which was later converted into a Buddhist shrine, is an unparalled architectural construction with stunning sculptures. Angkor Wat and very many other temples in Cambodia were built by architects who were well versed in the temple construction techniques prevalent in India at that time. These shrines were also centres of the performing arts such as music and dance.This illustrated lecture with dozens of slides, will cover the history, art and architecture, not only of Angkor Wat, but several other temples in Cambodia, both Hindu and Buddhist such as Banteay Srei, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and Bafoun.
On Sunday 14th June at 5pm
Pradeep Chakravarthy speaks on “The Big Temple – The Brihadeeshwara temple at Thanjavur”
Pradeep Chakravarthy is the author of “Thanjavur – A Cultural History”. He is from Tamil Nadu and is a management consultant with an abiding interest in history and heritage. He has 5 books and several hundred articles to his credit and has recently begun to do heritage tours in Tamil Nadu. He has spoken before for Natyasruti on the Sarasvati Mahal Library in Thanjavur.
The lecture will take the participants on a guided tour of the Brihadeeshwara Temple that recently celebrated its 1000 year anniversary. We will look at the sculptures, the paintings, the bronzes the jewellery and the hidden political messages and most important, the politics and economics that built a structure that continues to stand tall among the buildings of the modern world.