This is one of the outer walls of the Hazara Rama Temple in Hampi, illustrating a procession of horses and elephants. The lowest and the second lowest register feature these processions, while the upper registers feature warriors, musicians and dancers. The Hazara Rama temple was built in the 15th century inside the royal enclosure of… Read more »
This is a photograph of the bull pavilion at the Brihadeshwara Temple in Tanjore, taken by Samuel Bourne in 1869. The pavilion stands to the east of the main temple shrine housing the 13 feet high monotlithic structure of Nandi – the white bull associated with Shiva (to whom the temple is dedicated).
The Chennakesava Temple was constructed on the banks of the Yagachi River by King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire. The main deity in this temple is Chennakesava, an avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. This photo shows the entrance to the shrine.
This very striking picture represents the temple of the Sacred Tank of the Shravans, or Jains, situated at Bellagolla, in Mysore. The building is dedicated to Bhadra Bahn, a holy man of the Jains who lived in the fourth century. On the summit of the hill which rises to a height of 3,250 feet may… Read more »
Halebid (ancient Dwarasamudra), a small town in the Hassan district, was once the capital of the Hoysala dynasty of the southern Deccan which flourished from the 12th to the 14th Century. Invasions by armies of the Delhi Sultanate led to its decline by the mid-14th Century. The Hoysalas were prolific temple builders and the site… Read more »
This is a late 19th century photograph of a group of musicians at Karle Caves by an unidentified photographer. On the backdrop can be seen buddha figures meditating, and a row of elephants all carved onto the monolithic structure. The musicians appear to be in motion playing an assortment of instruments, which include Nagaras, and… Read more »
This photograph was taken by Samuel Bourne of the distinctive huts of a Toda Mund (village) at Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu. Traditionally pastoralist, the Todas in the past lived in thatched houses spread over the slopes of the Nilgiris. This picture is one of many examples of ethnographic photographs captured at… Read more »
This is a late 19th century photograph of the Shaniwar Wada in Pune by an unidentified photographer. Shaniwar Wada, was once the royal residence of the Peshwas. In 1828 a great fire started inside the palace complex tarnished most of the fort, leaving only the heavy granite ramparts, teak gateways and some building ruins. The… Read more »
This book commemorates and celebrates the assumption of the title Empress of India by Her Majesty the Queen. It documents the historical Imperial Assemblage at Delhi which took place on lst January, 1877.
This book gives an elaborate account of India which includes her history, topography, geology, climate, population, chief cities and provinces, tributaries and protected states, military power and resources, religion, education, crime, land tenures, staple products, government, finance, and commerce.
The book gives us an insight into the position of the Maharaja of Mysore during the colonial period. The author, Thomas Evans Bell (1825 – 1887) was an English Indian army officer and writer who used the pseudonyms Undecimus and Indicus and wrote extensively on Indian affairs. He was a stern critic of the East… Read more »
This is a brief historical record of the various chiefs and ruling princes who attended the Imperial Assemblage of 1912. Called the “Delhi Durbar” after the Mughal usage of the term, this was an official imperial event that was held in the Coronation Park, Delhi to celebrate the coronation of King George V and Queen… Read more »
Robert M. Grindlay served the British East India Company from 1804-1820, in India. A self-taught amateur artist, he made many sketches and illustrations recording the landscape and life of early 19th century India. These illustrations were later published and copied in engravings. This book is such a collection of coloured engravings. The topics in the… Read more »
This book gives a detailed account of sepoy insurrection in India along with a concise history of the military events that led to the consolidation of British Empire in India.
This book deals mainly with some aspects of what may be termed the psychical life of the inhabitants of the Madras Presidency, and the Native States of Travancore and Cochin. There are elaborate descriptions of snake worship, magic and charms.
An important, early and rare photographically-illustrated record of the art and architecture of western India with special emphasis on Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat.
This volume is a historical account of the British officers and soldiers who fought against Tipu Sultan and compelled him to relinquish half his dimensions. The engravings published in the book focus on the battle grounds where the forces of Mysore defended against the British. Robert Home, a portrait artist and water colourist from London… Read more »
Bala Rama Varma was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Travancore until its annexation by independent India in 1949. This silver coin issued under his name has the royal emblem of the conch on the obverse side, with a legend in Malayalam translating to “Travancore Half Rupee Chitra” encircled by an olive… Read more »
This is a silver coin issued when Goa was a Portuguese colony. The obverse reads “estado da India” meaning the “State of India” and states the value of the coin: “1/2 rupia”—rupia was the currency of Portuguese India from the late 17th century till the state dissolved. The emblem shows the Portuguese Coat of Arms,… Read more »
This is a silver bent-bar and punch-marked coin from the janapada (Vedic era) of Gandhara, one of the biggest kingdoms in ancient India. The term shata-mana translates to a 100 ‘manas’, a unit of measurement, and these were in circulation in the 6th century BCE. The characteristic feature of all Gandharan shatamanas was the six-armed… Read more »