Kamat's Potpourri: Tracing History through Memorials

Stories the Stones Tell

Tracing History through Memorials

by K.L. Kamat and Jyotsna Kamat
Page Last Updated: September 07,2008

In this section at Kamat's Potpourri, we provide examples of how Indian history can be assembled by studying the monuments. The monuments mentioned here are in extremely poor condition and the pictures are hand-enhanced by the authors.
-- Ed

Introduction

Erecting memorials for the dead is an age-old practice in India. Tribals like, Gonds, Korkus, Muria even today execute wooden, stone and other memorials in order to remember the dead. Although glorification in memorials is common, we often see that care has been taken to depict the person, the event and the surroundings are true to life. Hence these memorials could be effectively used for illustrating the written contents known to the historians. The inscription part of the memorials has been extensively used by scholars, but the illustrations have remained more or less unexplored. This is an attempt to draw the attention of the historians towards the possibilities of using this source for better understanding of a given period of history.

Dr. R. Seshasastry's help in locating the memorials, reading the inscriptions and photographing them is gratefully acknowledged.

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Introduction

Table of Contents

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