University of Mumbai, in association with India Study Center, organises a day to commemorate archeology in India.

MU celebrates Archeology

University of Mumbai, in association with India Study Center, organises a day to commemorate archeology in India.

    To the delight of all the budding Indiana Jones’ in the city, Mumbai University’s Center for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS) and India Study Center (INSTUCEN) Trust have organised the first ever national Archaeology Day. Scheduled to take place on December 10, the birth anniversary of Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia, one of India’s premier archeologist, the programme aims to create awareness and raise consciousness about archaeology and need for historical conservation. Kurush Dalal, assistant professor of archaeology at CEMS and the organiser for the event explains, “Through this celebration we intend to propagate and promote archaeology and its study amongst students. Even though, India has a vast distribution of archaeological remains and sites from the prehistoric to modern periods, few take it up as a profession. With this, we hope to encourage more students to opt for archaeology, a discipline, which combines physical sciences with humanities.”
    To be held in association with Sathaye College, the day-long fest will see an array of events ranging from workshops on tribal painting, metal sculpting, ancient scripts and numismatics to mock excavations and antiquities and replica sales. The day will also witness career guidance lectures in archaeology and allied disciplines by experts.
    “We do not have many archaeologists doing public archaeology, nor are there many institutions teaching archaeology. In fact, there isn’t even much information on the subject on the internet. Only recently, we updated a wiki entry on HD Sankalia and his work and intend to do a few more,” explains Mugdha karnik, director, CEMS.
    “The celebration is open to anyone with a modicum of interest in archaeology. We hope the participants will take back with them a new set of ideas and the wonder that the study of the past evokes,” concludes Dalal.