The book ???Heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh??? brings out the fact that though the three provinces of J & K are different geographic, cultural and linguistic entities, age told traditions bind them together. While Ladakh is predominantly Buddhist, Kashmir and Jammu are almost entirely inhabited by Muslims and Hindus respectively. This shared universe of discourse has been traversed by this volume, which ranges across geology, archaeology, history, art, architecture, herbal medicine, inscriptions, manuscripts, theater, religion and corollary subjects. A specially valuable dimension of the volume is its accent on historiography. Kashmir was an important seat of learning for diverse Hindu religious sects. Sufi traditions emerged with the advent of Islam and further invoked values of peace, brotherhood and equality. Even though a large number of the literary works and monuments of Kashmir were destroyed in political convulsions, many of these are still housed in the Gompas of Ladakh and in the Archives, libraries and museums of the State. The present volume dredges the spirit of confluence among the people of the State objectively from the available evidence. A landmark publication on the latest trends in scholarship on J & K heritage, this volume would be a useful addition to any library that would like to draw on trans-disciplinary research on the State.
About the Author
Dr. Gyani Lal Badam, a leading quaternary geologist and palaeontologist, has done pioneering researc on taphonomy, palaeoenvironment, biostratigarphy and rock art. He has been a member of the faculty of Deccan College, Pune, Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, Directorate of Culture and Archaeology, Raipur and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi where he was directing field research in ethno-archaeology, cultural heritage, prehistoric rock art etc. He was in charge of the projec~on the Heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and has written extensively on subjects related to ecology and Quaternary sciences.
Dr. Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty, an MPA and Ph.D. from Harvard University, Dr. Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty is a renowned art historian and museologist. An IAS officer of the 1970 batch, he has combined innovative initiatives in biocultural diversity, non-formal education and conservation with extensive fieldwork and publications in archaeology, action anthropology intangible heritage, rock art, art history and a new community museum movement in India. As Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Dr. Chakravarty launched a nationwide interdisciplinary project for survey, documentation, dating and conservation of rock art. He was also responsible for initiating a project on the Heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh at IGNCA. At present, he is the Vice Chairman of Delhi Institute of Heritage Research and Management in Delhi Government and Hony Chancellor of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration in the Govt. of India.
