The Tanjavur Marathas: Art, Architecture and Culture (Hardcover) | Released: 1 February 2015

Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth century, the Marathas ruled from different parts of India. The history, art and architecture of the Marathas of northern, western and central India have been fairly well-documented. But the rule of the Marathas of Tanjavur in southernmost India has hitherto not attracted adequate academic attention. This volume presents the first-ever systematic, comprehensive and integrated collation of the different aspects of the art, architecture and culture that flourished in the Tanjavur Maratha kingdom. Based on extensive field explorations, museum and archival research in India, U.K. and the U.S.A., the study encompasses the religious and secular buildings, sculptures, paintings, furniture, textiles, jewellery, coins, toys and dolls, music and dance traditions and the cuisine of this little-known kingdom. Combining theoretical insights with empirical data, the study, again for the first time, investigates the subtle similarities and differences between the art and architecture of the Tanjavur Marathas and that of the Marathas in other parts of India. The study concludes with a set of practical suggestions for the revival of certain Maratha arts and crafts and the development of some of the Maratha monuments and sites as popular tourist destinations. The volume is profusely illustrated with rare photographs, line drawings and maps, many of which are being published for the first time. Written in a narrative style, the publication will be of equal interest to archaeologists, conservation architects, art historians, urban planners, artists, heritage lovers and serious tourists.

About the Author

Dr. Sethuraman Suresh is an Archaeologist, Art Historian and Tourism Consultant based in Chennai, India. He is presently the Tamil Nadu State Convener at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and Academic Director, Bharat Travel Services, Chennai. He was recently in the U.S. as a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington D.C. and the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of the University of Maryland. As a Fulbright Scholar, he lectured at several universities including the Harvard University and the Art Institute of Chicago. He was earlier Research Fellow at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi and at the French Institute, Pondicherry (India) and Nehru Visiting Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He was awarded the P.L. Gupta Medal of the South Indian Numismatic Society for his pioneering studies on the Roman numismatic finds in India and the INTACH-SATTE Award for his contributions to heritage tourism. Educated in Delhi, Chennai, Mysore and London, he holds B.A., M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in History and Archaeology, all with a First-Class-First, from the University of Madras, a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and another Ph.D. in Medieval Indian Art from the University of Mysore. He has, to his credit, over 30 books and 70 published research papers on various aspects of cultural tourism and South Asian and Roman history, numismatics, art and archaeology. He is most well-known for the unique educational tours (to archaeological sites and monuments in India and Cambodia) that he designs and conducts for schools, colleges, museums and the general public.