Scientific Knowledge and Cultural Understanding: A Chemist at Ajanta and Pandharpur

Speaker: Shri Manager Singh, Superintending Archaeological Chemist, ASI

Chair: Dr Shereen Ratnagar, archaeologist

The speaker will describe his restoration of the Ajanta frescoes and of the idol of Vitthal at Pandharpur, detailing the techniques employed and the discoveries made. The restoration of the Vitthal icon demonstrates that scientific practice need not sever itself from a living culture, but may respect the forms of ritual even as ritual is accommodated to scientific knowledge