LEXINGTON, MA— India Discovery Center, whose mission is map the chronology of India’s cultural history in order to understand and appreciate the development of the current Indian society and the evolution of Indian traditions in practice, announced that it will hold seminar on the Indus Civilization on Saturday, July 23, 2016, in Lexington, MA.
The seminar will also feature Dr. Richard Meadow, the senior archaeologist from Harvard University who has been involved in Indus excavation work for more than three decades. The event be presided by Prof R. Balachandra of Northeastern University, who will compile and edit the presentations.
“We invite you to join the day-long event at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington,” said Bijoy Misra, founder of India Discovery Center. “The event will be of interest to students, researchers and members of the lay public who wish to know about India and her history.”
He said the goal of the India Discovery Center is to create an educational foundation through studies by volunteers in the immigrant society in the United States to create awareness and foster research in many areas of India’s heritage that are poorly understood. A youth-oriented educational and cultural center is targeted to open in 2021.
“Early known and speculative history of India starts from around 5000 BCE,” said Misra, adding that the period beginning from around 5000 BCE to the present has been grouped into eight principal cultural periods (i) the Indus Period, (ii) the Vedic Period, (iii) the Buddhist/Jaina Period, (iv) the Early Hindu and Gupta Period, (v) the Medieval Hindu and Islamic Period, (vi) the Moghul Period, (vii) the British Period and (viii) Post-independence Period.
“Each of these periods will be studied in six tracks: (a) Geography and People, (b) Art and Culture, (iii) Language and Literature, (iv) Philosophy and Religion, (v) science and Technology and (f) Economy and Politics,” Misra said.
He said first set of findings on the Indus Period will be presented on Saturday, July 23, 2016. The list at the end of this article shows the presenters and their topics.
Indus Civilization, more aptly called Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization flourished at least from 57000 BCE until about 1900 BCE as suggested by the excavated artifacts, Misra said.
Though originally discovered through two sites excavated in the Indus valley (Harappa and Mohenjadaro), similar sites have now been discovered in more than fifty sites spread over India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The artifacts found in these sites, popularly known as Harappan objects, have also been found in sites as far as old Mesopotamia and in towns near the Persian Gulf. The population that lived in these sites had developed an urban culture with town planning, underground sewer system, water supply, agricultural products and industrial goods.
Though there is some form of writing, attempts to decipher the writings have not been successful, Misra said.
The program will begin at 10:00 am, with a lunch break at 12:30 pm, and will end at 4:00 pm. The detailed schedule will be as follows:
10:00 AM – Assembly and Coffee
10:15 – 10:30 – Latest findings from the Indus Civilization – Professor Richard Meadow
10-30 – 11:10 – Geography and People of the Indus Civilization – Swati Dave
11-10 – 11:50 – Art and Culture of the Indus Civilization – Srabonti Bandyopadhyay
11:50 – 12:30 – Language and Literature of the Indus Civilization – Jaspal Singh
12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch
1:30 – 2:10 – Philosophy and Religion of the Indus Civilization – Chandrika Govardhan
2:10 – 2:50 – Science and Technology of the Indus Civilization – Krishna Gazula
2:50 – 3:30 – Economy and Politics of Indus Civilization – Sanjeev Tripathi
3:30 – 3:45 – Closing remarks by Professor Richard Meadow
3:45 – 4:00 – Vote of Thanks and Follow-up.
Each presentation will be thirty minutes followed by a ten minute Question and Answer period.
For more information and to register visit: www.indiadiscoverycenter.org. Organizers request a $10 optional donation to defray lunch expenses at the site. Contact Bijoy Misra at idccomments@gmail.com with questions or comments, or if you wish to volunteer to support IDC’s efforts.
