Indraprastha Revisited

Contents: Introduction. 1. Historicity of the Mahabharata and identification of Indraprastha/B.B. Lal. 2. Prehistoric Indraprastha/A K Sharma. 3. History and archaeology of Purana Qila with special reference to recent archaeological excavations/Vishnu Kant. 4. Indraprastha in inscriptions/B.M. Pande. 5. Founding of Indraprastha: Estimate of its date on the basis of archaeoastronomy/Narhari Achar. 6. Archaeology of Indraprastha/B. R. Mani. 7. Convergence of evidence on a chronology of the Mahabharata war/Koenraad Elst. 8. Ethnic reconstruction of the Mahabharata: A preliminary attempt/Somnath Chakraverty. 9. Indian calendar during the time of Pandavas/Ashok K. Bhatnagar. 10. Yamuna: a study of its links from the Sarasvati findings/Jijith Nadumuri Ravi. 11. Principles of Governance in the Mahabharata (based on the Santi Parva)/A D Mathur. 12. Indraprastha, Indra’s field in the Mahabharata and in Eurasian mythology and culture/Come Carpentier de Gourdon. 13. Ruling dynasties of Kaliyuga and ancient Indraprastha: as depicted in Bhagavata Purana/Shashi Tiwari. 14. The legacy of India’s ancient past in the Sultanate and Mughal architecture of Delhi/Swapna Liddle. 15. Showcasing the heritage of India with special reference to Indraprastha/K.K. Muhammed. 16. The role of NGO’s and individuals in preserving and promoting cultural heritage of India/Prashant R. Chauhan and S.K. Pachauri. 17. Silpa in Janapada period/Sudha Satyawadi. 18. Vignettes of Mahabharata from modern Indian art/Arundhati Dasgupta. 19. A scene from the Mahabharata as seen in the murals of the Chattar Mahal of the Kota Palace/Rupali Yadav. 20. Geo-Politics of the Mahabharata Era/G D. Bakshi. 21. Indraprastha – a journey from the past to the future/Renu Khanna. 22. Indraprastha: the legacy of the Pandavas/Neera Misra. 23. Indraprastha as it was known to the ancient Indian Buddhists/K T S Sarao. Indraprastha Revisited is a book of the papers presented at the first ever International conference held on this most ancient and first planned city that now lies within the confines of the present Delhi, India’s National Capital. This conference was organised by Draupadi Dream Trust on 22nd and 23rd November 2016, as part of the 1st Indraprastha Festival (18th -25th Nov 2016) and was supported by Ministry of Culture, ICCR and National Museum. Renowned scholars from various fields such as Archaeology, Art, Science, Sanskrit, History, Astronomy and others participated in the conference. Their papers present to us the identification of Indraprastha, and its antiquity by way of archaeological evidence and astronomical data. Papers were also presented on inscriptions and government records identifying Indraprastha, the erstwhile Indrapat or Indapat, as being the one integral and part of the Purana Qila. Papers give insight into the governance, culture, history and legacy during Mahabharata period, and ancient Indraprastha, and the conflict between good and evil and Dharma and Adharma. The conference papers highlighted the gaps that exist in knowledge of that period. Scholars also stated unequivocally the need to showcase Indraprastha to the country and to the world, so that a correct history of Delhi and this Purana Qila, which have antiquity of several thousand years, and is not limited to 500-800 years, as apparent from existing structures and monuments of medieval era. Scholars suggest that this wrong impression needs to be corrected by exposing the site excavated by archaeologists since 1950s till 2014, and creating an exposition of international standards. Some papers threw interesting light on this aspect. Valuable recommendations given are also included here. The book will be liked by all appreciators of our ancient culture, heritage, art and history. Indraprastha revisited is a book for the Ministry of Culture to Revisit Indraprastha. (jacket).…