This book is the outcome of sustained interest, occasional surveys and researches in the archaeological and cultural heritage of Haryana by the author during the last four decades. The very strategic location of Haryana on the route connecting India with the western world made it a rendezvous of the east and west and also a state to bear the brunt of all alien incursions from the early historic to medieval times. The medieval iconoclastic hordes demolished all religious edifices and tried to destroy all icons and images that came their way. What images that came their way. What survived was very little. When the present state of Haryana was carved out of Punjab as a result of reorganization in November 1966, it was almost terra incognito as far as sculptures are concerned. A short stint as the Deputy Director of the State Department of Archaeology and Museums in the eighties of the last century provided the author an opportunity not only to undertake exploratory tours and discover the things himself but also to have a first hand knowledge of what was discovered by others and existed in different holdings, institutional and personal. The present work lists about two hundred sites which have yielded sculptural remains. On the basis of unfinished sculptures about half a dozen centres producing sculptures have also been identified. As in most other parts of northern India, sculptural activity started in Haryana during the Sunga-Kushana period. Its vicinity to Mathura may have been one of the incentives. Ganesa holding a sword from Gurawara and yogasana-Ganesa from Pinjore are interesting examples of iconography. Ekanamsa from Sanghel and images of Vishnu-Kubera from Pinjore, Ardhanari-Vishnu from Jaintipur; Harihara-Pitamaha from Purkhas; etc. are beautiful examples of art and iconography. Most of these and Jaina images have been brought to light for the first time. The book discusses the iconography and style of all important Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina images discovered from the state so far and with nearly 400 text figures and plates, it presents a visual feast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Devendra Handa
Shri Devendra Handa holds Post-Graduate degrees in Sanskrit, History and Education-all in First class and with top positions in the University. He obtained his Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from the School of Archaeology (ASI, New Delhi) in 1964 with Credit (Distinction). He is the recipient of Maulana Azad and Archaeological Centenary Commemoration Medals, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Prize and various other awards. He is known to the indologists through more than three hundred research papers and the following books and monographs: 1 Osian: History, Archaeology, Art & Architecture, Delhi, 1984; 2 Studies in Indian Coins and Seals, Delhi, 1985; 3 Indological Studies: Essays in Memory of Shri S.P. Singhal, Delhi, 1987 (Ed.); 4 Ajaya-Sri: Recent Studies in Indology (Prof. Ajay Mitra Shastri Felicitation Volume), 2 Vols., Delhi, 1989 (Ed.); 5 Praci-Prabha: Perspectives in Indololgy (Essays in honour of Prof. B.N. Mukherjee), New Delhi, 1989 (Ed. Jointly with Prof. D.C. Bhattacharyya); 6 Ratna-Chandrika: Panorama of Oriental Studies (Shri R.C. Agrawala Festschrift), New Delhi, 1989 (Ed. Jointly with Prof. Ashvini Agrawal); 7 Heritage of Haryana: Buddhist Remains, Chandigarh, 1989; 8 Vishvambhara: Probings in Orientology (Prof. V.S. Pathak Festschrift), 2 Vols. New Delhi, 1995 (Ed. Jointly with Prof. Ajay Mitra Shastri and C.S. Gupta); 9 Numismatic Studies, Vols. 1-3 (1991-93), New Delhi (Ed.); 10 Oriental Numismatic Studies, Vols. 1-2 (1994 & 1996), Delhi (Ed.). He has attended numerous national and international conferences and delivered lectures in various institutions. In 1992, he got the Lowick Memorial Grant of the Royal Numismatic Society, London for studying the tribal coins of India. In 1993, he visited Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lanka Numismatic Society. He was honoured for his contributions to the science of numismatics at Calcutta in 1994. After a teaching career of more than thirty years, he finally retired from the Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1999. After his retirement from the Panjab University, Chandigarh, he was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla (2000-2003) and Senior Fellow of the Ministry of Culture, GOPI, New Delhi (2003-2005). He presided over the 88th Annual Conference of the Numismatic Society of India at Nagpur in 2004 and Seminar on Coinage of the North West India at Chandigarh in 2005.
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