Exploring new horizons of Indian culture
Minister of State for Culture (I/C), Dr Mahesh Sharma, released three books – 'Jewellery' by Dr Gulab Kothari, 'Ghats of Banaras' by Pratapanand Jha and Dr Sachidanand Joshi and 'Untold Story of Broadcasting' by Dr Gautam Chatterjee at IGNCA, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, he congratulated IGNCA for its efforts in encouraging art and culture. "Jewellery making has been a traditional occupation with a finer classification of those who make it in gold, silver, diamond, pearl, artificial etc. But in recent times it is also being studied as a specialized stream of knowledge. This is the most significant book for our upcoming generation," he said.
The second book titled 'Untold Story of Broadcasting' - written by Dr Chatterjee - is about behind-the-scenes developments during the Quit India movement. It gives an authentic account of the secret broadcast which took place during the movement led by Ram Manohar Lohia. It has been published in collaboration with Publication Division, Government of India.
The Book 'Ghats of Banaras' is derived out of the similar documentation conducted recently at Varanasi. These ghats situated at the bank of river Ganga in a semi-circular shape (ardhachandrakar), give a spectacular view of the city.
IGNCA Member Secretary Dr Sachchidanand Joshi said, "Under the guidance of our president Ram Bahadur Rai, we are trying to do something new and path-breaking in the field of art and culture. Since decades, culture has been described in a set format, but we – who are new in this field – are opening a new horizon for the scholars to identify something new out of the culture but related to the culture. Also, we have taken the initiative of promoting art via publishing new books and 'Jewellery' is one of the books of this initiative."
"Besides, we are also happy to announce two more books today – 'Untold story of broadcast during Quit India movement – written by Dr Chatterjee. In this book, he digs out archival material to rewrite the history of Quit India with new light and new information. The other book is by Dr P Jha, titled 'Ghats of Banaras' – which talks about the ghats of Varanasi. These Ghats situated at the bank of river Ganga in a semi-circular shape (ardhachandrakar), give a spectacular view of the city," he further added.
