Symposia & Conferences
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Item Socio-cultural Impact of advent of Metro on Street Scenario of Bengaluru(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Kumar, V.Guttierrez remarks, the socio-cultural transformation is a great happening and a reality that is necessary and inevitable part of urban transformation. This happening only varies in degrees depending on the pace of change. Change is an unchangeable phenomenon of society. Webster Dictionary explains, “socio-cultural - relating to, or involving a combination of social and cultural factors”. Sociologists define sociology as a scientific study of human society and social behavior. Sociologists view of culture includes religion, art, philosophy, literature, music, dance, etc. which brings satisfaction and pleasure to many. It is the expression of final aspects of life. The current modern Indian culture is a cultural assimilation due to migration to cities and is a mix of evolved ancient cultures brought through village immigrants and profound influence of the west through multinational exposure, which has been well talked about by sociologists like MSA Rao and MN Srinivas. One of the means of infrastructure development or progress of a city is through transport systems. The means adopted to ease out the traffic congestion in a city is by making transportation people and environment friendly which is Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). This study would encompass Socio-cultural aspects and urban transformation with respect to city dynamics, retail evolution and changing lifestyle in suburbs of Bengaluru with the advent of metro. The objective of this study is to study the Social transformation due to socio-psychological change of the space and socio-cultural life due to urban physical development. A reference study taken is of Delhi metro and its impact, which changed the suburb of Dwaraka. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used to undertake this exploratory research. Observations and interviews have also been conducted apart from surveys done to understand user, shopkeepers and people in vicinity of metro stations.Item Development and Spread of Buddhist Art and Traditions in South East Asia(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Kumar, V.Over the last several decades, Buddhist studies have grown into a complex field, with historical, philosophical, linguistic and socio-cultural aspects which are being studied independently as well as in comparative light. New materials came to light in the last century which has created the need for sustained research in this important chapter of human history and civilization. Buddhism from its inception is a religion that has captured the enthusiasm of the rich and the poor alike. It was a religion that preached a way out of suffering in a simple and direct manner which could be understood by the common man. Unlike Brahmanism that had become too recondite and scholarly for the masses to understand, Buddhism fulfilled the spiritual needs of the people. Every person could work their way towards the enlightenment. Its notions of social equality earned it much success. The establishment of the Sangha gave it strength. As it was a proselytizing religion, it spread quickly and flourished for centuries. By the beginning of the first millennium, Buddhism had been firmly established in the areas of Thailand, Burma, Java and Cambodia. Buddhism develops art and architecture as visual aids for propagation of religious ideas in South East Asia. Buddhist stylistic arts have created a great impact on the religious and secular life of the people in those related areas for more than two millennia and thus Buddhism has created a great current of art in South East Asia. Under this artistic trend, many valuable art works were created and they gave rise to a special social phenomenon. Thus, the present paper focuses on the historicity of Buddhist arts tradition in South East Asia, influence and impact of Indian Buddhist art on Southeast Asian art and the dimensions of Buddhist art in South East Asian culture. This paper also compares the Buddhist art in the homeland of Buddhism with those in other Buddhist countries in South East Asia and examines the dissemination of Buddhism through art and Architecture.Item Symbolic Elephant Motif in Traditional Indian Textiles and Embroideries(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kumar, V.The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. India had always been known as the land that portrayed cultural and traditional vibrancy through its conventional arts and crafts. Widely used as motif in Indian textiles, Elephant is a symbol of wisdom, fertility, prosperity, strength and royalty. Elephants are important in Indian mythology too. Lord Ganesha bears an elephant head, symbolizing great intellect and wisdom. As vahan of Indra, the Vedic deity, the elephant is associated with rain and fertility. It was depicted on the seals excavated from Indus valley sites and on the Hindu and Buddhist architecture. Elephants are also a symbol of royalty. In Asian cultures, the elephant is a symbol of good luck, happiness and longevity and have been interpreted in the motif as the result of religion, customs, natural surroundings and social beliefs of that particular area to which its creator belongs. A motif is the most basic unit or the smallest unit of pattern. The motifs in textile design may be classified as geometric, realistic or natural, stylized and abstract and are linked to natural, cultural, religious and socio-economic factors prevailing in any society. Though always speculative, the meaning of the motifs used in decoration of textiles may change with cultural context but the symbolic meaning of various motifs remains the same wherever they are applied, be it the famous Pipli applique work of Orissa, Madhubani paintings of Bihar, Patola Ikat weaves of Gujarat, Pochampalli weaves of Andhra Pradesh or the little known Manjoosha painting of Bihar.Item Representation of Elephant in Tribal Art and Culture of Central India(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kumar, V.The Central India consists of plateaus and mountainous belt between Indo-gangtic plain to the north and roughly to the Krishna River to the south. Because of its central location, it is often called the ‘Heart of India’. The largest numbers of tribes are in the states of Odisha. Madhya Pradesh is the 2nd largest state of India. Each of these tribes has its own identity and culture which varies greatly from each other. The tribes have their distinct socio-economic, cultural, political and religious institutions which are part and parcel of cultural heritage of India. They have immensely contributed towards the history and culture of India. In the present paper, the tribal residing in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, south-eastern Rajasthan, northern Maharashtra, northern Telengana, northern Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, southern Utter Pradesh and south-western West Bengal are considered tribes of central India. The important tribes inhabiting in this zone are the Agaria, the Asur, the Baiga, the Bhils, the Bhuinya, the Bhumij, the Birhor, the Bondo, the Borida, the Gadava, the Ho, the Juang, the Kamar, the Katkari, the Kharia, the Kharia, the Kol, the Gonds, the Kondh, the Koraku, the Lodha, the Munda, the Muria, the Oraon, the Pardhan, the Santal / Santhal, the Savara etc. Elephants have been the subject of various cultural depictions in mythology, symbolism and popular culture of these tribal communities. They are both revered in religion and respected for their prowess in war. Ever since the Stone Age, when elephants were represented by ancient petroglyphs and cave art, they have been depicted in various forms of art, including pictures, sculptures and even architecture. Mahashweta Devi has shown that both Shiva and Kali have tribal origins as do Krishna and Ganesh. In the 8th century, the tribal forest goddess or harvest goddess was absorbed and adapted as Siva's wife. Ganesh owes its origins to a powerful tribe of elephant trainers whose incorporation into Hindu society was achieved through the deification of their elephant totem. In the present paper an attempt has been made to find out the representation of elephant motif in art of tribal communities of Gond, Baiga and others. An attempt has also been made to find out various legends, folktales and stories associated with their depiction in tribal art.Item Heritage Management Plan of Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh) with special reference to Disaster Risk Management(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Kumar, V.The world famous site of Bhimbetka lies about 45 km south east of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India and is spread with an aerial span of more than 8 km. Scholars have enumerated more than 700 rock shelters in these clusters in the large aerial spread. Bhimbetka reflects a long interaction between people and the landscape, as demonstrated in the quantity and quality of its rock art and is closely associated with hunting and gathering economy as demonstrated in the rock art and in the relicts of this tradition in the local adivasi villages on the periphery of this site even till date. The vast area of Bhimbetka with its varied topography, ecological settings, archaeological remains and a number of stakeholders, like the Archaeological Survey of India, Forest Department, Revenue Department and the villagers of the 21 villages located around the core zone were exploiting the forest resources besides tourist pressures on the site were some of the key players in this World Heritage site. Not only this, there are a number of authorities, having jurisdiction over the total area (including the buffer area as per the World Heritage eligibility requirements) sometimes is the various laws in discordance with the optimal management of the site. In view of the various different types of resources, organizations, responsible for its maintenance, difference of perspectives due to the emphasis on implementation of laws based on varying concerns are problems for management of the site for posterity, for tourists and for the growth of the tourism industry. The site of Bhimbetka with its vast geographical area, its large variety and quantity of natural and cultural wealth evidently has a large number of management issues that has yet to be resolved to the optimal levels of perspectives of the stake holding organizations. The foremost issue of management is disaster risk management of the site. Of all the ranges of risks such as forest fires, human vandalism, wood cutting, cattle grazing, vehicular pollution, increase rate of tourists, rock weathering, the risk of forest fires is utmost concern and hence a proper disaster risk management to overcome this risk factor is highly essential for these rock shelters. Intentional firing to remove the evidence of illegal tree falling in the area, burning of leaves as part of ground clearance of Mahua trees, smoking or casual use of fire and natural forest fire are some of the major threats to these rock shelters. This in turn results in change in bio-diversity, reduction in growth and density of vegetation, reduction in soil nutrients and extinction of many medicinal plants. Hence a proper management plan is required to safeguard this rich cultural heritage. The present paper deals in detail about the various management issues and suitable measures which can be adopted to mitigate the disaster risk management of the world heritage site.