Public Lecture on Elephant, Empire and Ecology in Ancient India at NMML
The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library invites all interested to a public lecture on ‘Elephant, empire and ecology in ancient India’ by Prof. Raman Sukumar of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The elephant rose from the status of a supreme animal, Gajatame, in early Buddhist India to that of a supreme God, Ganesha, in Hindu India by about the 4th or 5th century. In spite of a rather turbulent relationship with people through history, the elephant has also been widely revered across the cultures of South and South-east Asia.
Date: 1 May, 2013 (Wednesday)
Time: 3.00 pm
Venue: Seminar Room, First Floor, Library Building
The talk will trace the unique elephant-human relationship from the ancient Harappan civilization when it is believed to have been first tamed, through the use of elephants in the armies of major kingdoms and empires, to its rise to supreme godhead in the medieval Hindu period.The talk will also discusses the role of the elephant in the rise, sustenance and eventual decline of the Mughal and the British empires. It will conclude by providing sociopolitical and ecological interpretations as to why the largest land mammal was accorded sacred status in Asia, though not in Africa.
Image by etrenard via Flickr
