BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//ceres.rub.de//events//
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Lunchbox Lecture: The Idea of (Re)constructing Tradition for a New
  Nation. Architecture and Decoration of Birla Mandirs 
DTSTART:20180529T101500Z
DTEND:20180529T114500Z
DTSTAMP:20260504T172759Z
UID:lunchbox-lecture-agnieszka-staszczyk-4959@ceres.rub.de
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Guest lecture presented by Agnieszka Staszczyk (Krakow)\n\nThe
  presentation focuses on the main architectural forms and decoration theme
 s chosen by creators of Birla Mandirs\, constructed between 1930s and 1990
 s. The research is based on fieldwork studies from the past four years. Th
 e project team and the presenter of the lecture visited 19 temples altoget
 her\, classified into two main groups:\n\n\n	the older one founded in orde
 r to support the idea of building the Hindu national temple (Hindu Rashtra
  Mandir)\n	the younger one designed using traditional architectural langua
 ges.\n\n\nIn the first group the main architect responsible for the form w
 as Sris Chandra Chatterjee\, one of the most important designers of the pr
 e-independence period\, founder of Modern Indian Architectural Movement an
 d one of the main theoreticians discussing the shape of new Indian art\, a
 s well as possible sources of the revival. In the second group\, the famou
 s Sompura master builders were mostly employed as the main constructors\, 
 therefore the character of temples changes. Their forms are often inspired
  by ancient monuments designed in regional styles of North and Central Ind
 ia. So changes the message and function of temples. This may be mainly obs
 erved in the diverse decoration consisting of inscribed panels\, paintings
 \, reliefs\, sculptures and stained-glass windows. In the first group they
  are concentrated on conveying the message of the inclusive Hindu primordi
 al tradition to which belong also Buddhists\, Jains and Sikhs. It shall be
  emphasized that: the selection of illustrated figures and themes is inspi
 red by teachings of important gurus and reformers\, among them Vivekananda
 \, Swami Shraddhananda or Malaviya\; its main aim is to present key symbol
 s of the common Indian nation - future citizens of the new independent sta
 te\, and to build the national identity\; authors of the iconographic prog
 rammes deliberately change elements of the Aryan heritage to fit them to t
 he modern picture.\n\nThus\, although they claim that the main idea behind
  the project is to restore old tradition\, in fact we may assume it being 
 the idea of constructing it. The other group to some extent continues this
  message\, but also quotes some flagship motives of the Hindu temple tradi
 tion (used mainly as the outside wall decoration)\, and last but not least
  opens to the non-Indian traditions introducing the eminent figures of Chr
 istianity\, Judaism and Confucianism.\n
LOCATION:CERES Palais\, room "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
URL:https://ceres.rub.de/en/events/lunchbox-lecture-agnieszka-staszczyk/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR