{"product_id":"archaeology-and-the-public-purpose-nayanjot-lahiri-9780190130480","title":"Archaeology and the Public Purpose: Writings on and by M.N. Deshpande","description":"This book interleaves the history of post- Independence archaeology in India with the life and times of Madhukar Narhar Deshpande (1920-2008), a leading Indian archaeologist who went on to become the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India. Spanning nearly a century, this is a tale told through a main character-Deshpande himself-some of whose writings have been included in the volume. We explore the circumstances which brought men like Deshpande to this career path; what it was like to grow up in a family devoted to India's freedom; the watershed moment that created a large cohort that was trained by Mortimer Wheeler, the doyen of British archaeology; the unknown conservation stories around the Gol Gumbad in Bijapur and the Qutb Minar in Delhi; the forgotten story of how the fabric of a historic Hindu shrine, the Badrinath temple, was saved; the chemistry shared by the prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the archaeologist, Deshpande, at the Ajanta and Ellora cave shrines, and; the political and administrative challenges faced by director generals of archaeology. The book is a must read for anyone interested in India's past in general and the history of Indian archaeology in particular.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nayanjot Lahiri\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0190130482\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780190130480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/07\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.90w x 1.20d","brand":"Nayanjot Lahiri","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46906543735039,"sku":"9780190130480","price":70.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_45e5b085-d974-429c-9f4c-20b3cfb1deec.jpg?v=1748770743","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/archaeology-and-the-public-purpose-nayanjot-lahiri-9780190130480","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}