Art and Political History Through Stones and Temples

THE HINDU
By Murali Sivaramakrishnan

Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India's Deccan Plateau, 1300 - 1600.
Authors: Richard M. Eaton and Philip B. Wagoner. Publication: Oxford University Press, Rs. 1250

INDIA---The book under review is an excellent interdisciplinary study that falls squarely in the shadowy space between art history and political history, and, given the present day academic scenario, there is virtually very little communication between such disciplines and their methodologies. It is not unusual for scholars of history to refer to the plunder and pillage of Hindu temples by Muslim invaders. But as this book attempts to reread in the remains of Deccan’s architectural monuments, desecration and destruction were not the sole process but a deliberate cultivation of aesthetic and architectural history integrated with memory of place also was in the scheme of things. This book is a treasure. [link]