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The Secret Life of Monuments
Sculpting History & Myth
Speakers
God on the Hill and Other Stories, is a collection of ten stories mostly set around ancient monuments and their settings. Inspired by locales, monuments and myths associated with them, encountered by the author during nearly two decades of fieldwork studying the ancient architecture of India, these stories focus attention on less-known aspects of these monuments. The themes around which these ten stories are crafted are varied – in a remote village in the Deccan, impoverished villagers resort to human sacrifice to coax treasures out of prehistoric dolmens; over the ages, an ancient menhir commemorating a dead hero is transformed into the deity in an imposing temple; the caretaker of a medieval tank makes the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard its bund from breaching; a one-armed sculptor carves a masterpiece in a Himalayan village in one night; a modern-day researcher comes face-to-face with characters from the distant past, during a field trip; and the sculptor of an ancient stupa revisits it almost two-thousand years later.
This illustrated talk will bring alive the remarkable monuments and locales which inspired some of the stories in the book – such as megaliths in Kerala and Karnataka, an Early Historic Buddhist Stupa, and an exquisite little rock-cut temple in the Kumaon Himalaya.
After the talk, Srikumar Menon will be in conversation with Vinay Parameswarappa. A Q&A session with the audience will follow the discussion.
Speakers
Srikumar M Menon
Srikumar M. Menon is an architect specializing in ancient and early architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Srikumar’s academic interests focus on ancient architecture – both prehistoric monuments like megaliths, as well as later monuments, such as stupas and temples. He was awarded the Prof. D. S. Achyutha Rao Memorial History Research Fellowship in 2007, and the Homi Bhabha Fellowship for studying “Ancient Landscapes of South India” during 2012-2014. His work has taken him from monument sites in the Himalaya to lesser-known locations in the Deccan, as well as other places in India.
Currently, Srikumar is studying stone-working and the practice of architecture in Early Historic to Medieval Periods in India, including tracking the early artisans of ancient India. He works at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. He has authored two non-fiction books – Ancient Stone Riddles: Megaliths of the Indian Subcontinent and Comets: Nomads of the Solar System, both published by Manipal University Press.
Srikumar writes regularly for Deccan Herald Spectrum about the built heritage of India. God on the Hill and Other Stories, published by StoryWell Books Ltd is his first work of fiction. The stories in this collection are mostly inspired by the locations visited for work.
Vinay Parameswarappa
Vinay is the founder of Gully Tours an experiential tour company established in 2009 that offers immersive trails in Bangalore, Mysore, Coorg & Kochi. He is an Engineer & MBA, from the University of Oxford and a storyteller at heart.
