The huge banyan tree at the Bharathiar University offered a perfect setting for the chat with writer, producer, archaeologist T.K.V. Rajan who was at his best all through. He is the Founder-Director of Indian Science Monitor and Indo Asian Foundation of Archaeological Research.
Rajan has also presented "Our Buried Past", a documentary serial for the Madras Doordarshan. His documentary on the "History of CRPF" won an award during his tenure as a Producer with Sun TV. Rajan was also the Chief Producer at Raj TV and he was instrumental in introducing several live programmes, including a quiz on science and technology. He has won several awards and has produced a mega serial "Kashmir: Crown of India" for Sankara TV while also having produced "Glorious Kumbakonam".
T.K.V. Rajan is the author of five books which include - From Kanchi to Cambodia, Kashmir: The Crown of India, and Sri Lanka: In Search of Lord Krishna, etc., The multi-faceted scholar has done his BA History from Loyola College and has completed his post-graduation in archaeology from the University of Madras. He learnt anthropology under Professor Polin Kolanda from the University of Houston while she was in India.
His futuristic exhibition, "The Last days of Homosapiens" sponsored by JNU, reflected the problems of the changing values and the eco-crisis faced by humanity. Rajan has held several exhibitions under the auspices of the Indian Science Monitor and Bhale Bharath which has been patronised by Justice Santosh Hegde and also Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah.
"India is a great country and its hoary past has to be unveiled in the best manner possible to the world. The children of our country will be the right people to take it forward and therefore I propose that we create an Archaeology Club with them as the first participants. They can visit places of historical interest and also study the sites being excavated by archaeologists. This will help them understand and assimilate our history without any bias. Coimbatore is a great place of learning and it’s appropriate that this initiative takes birth here," stated a thoughtful Rajan while handing out copies of his books and news letters at the time of the discussion.
He added further, "My exhibition CHRIST AND KRISHNA was well received in a number of places. It was through this exhibition that we show the archaeological sites connected with both of them. We should do this exhibition in Coimbatore too. It’s a pure archaeological exhibition and visitors can get to see the image of the Lord Krishna coin issued by Indo Greek ruler Agothocles (the coin was discovered through the Ai Khanoum excavations in Afghanistan).
Dr. Nanditha Krishna of the C.P.R Foundation was all praise for this when it was exhibited at Chennai some years ago. The exhibition also includes a number of images of sites connected with Lord Jesus Christ alongside pictures of places like the Prema Sarovara in Vrindavan where Lord Krishna met Radharani.
Rajan has spent a lot of time in Mayapur while on his search for information connected with Lord Krishna. He elucidated further, "Mayapur is a fantastic place and you will be surprised to learn that they do not use onion or garlic there. I was there for about a year and would want to settle down in such a place for good. For the moment I will be going to the US for sometime and on my return I wish to live in Coimbatore for sometime and take my Krishna studies forward. Coimbatore should hopefully be the place where I may be able to continue my archaeological studies in a big way."
The book "In Search of Lord Krishna" is a treasure house of information for it talks about a number of Mahabharata sites and dates. The reader can learn that the war began on the 22nd of November 3067 BC. He talks about the early archaeologists of Braj Mandal who included Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his six disciples known as Goswamis - Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Raghunathadasa Goswami, Gopala Batta Goswami, Jeeva Goswami and Raghunatha Batta Goswami who under strenuous journeys in the quest of places connected with Lord Krishna. The book shares details about the battle formations used in the Mahabharata war and also opinions of scholars who had differed on the above mentioned subject.
A discussion with scholars like T.K.V. Rajan can trigger a lot of people to undertake archaeological research around the globe.
Rajan has also presented "Our Buried Past", a documentary serial for the Madras Doordarshan. His documentary on the "History of CRPF" won an award during his tenure as a Producer with Sun TV. Rajan was also the Chief Producer at Raj TV and he was instrumental in introducing several live programmes, including a quiz on science and technology. He has won several awards and has produced a mega serial "Kashmir: Crown of India" for Sankara TV while also having produced "Glorious Kumbakonam".
T.K.V. Rajan is the author of five books which include - From Kanchi to Cambodia, Kashmir: The Crown of India, and Sri Lanka: In Search of Lord Krishna, etc., The multi-faceted scholar has done his BA History from Loyola College and has completed his post-graduation in archaeology from the University of Madras. He learnt anthropology under Professor Polin Kolanda from the University of Houston while she was in India.
His futuristic exhibition, "The Last days of Homosapiens" sponsored by JNU, reflected the problems of the changing values and the eco-crisis faced by humanity. Rajan has held several exhibitions under the auspices of the Indian Science Monitor and Bhale Bharath which has been patronised by Justice Santosh Hegde and also Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah.
"India is a great country and its hoary past has to be unveiled in the best manner possible to the world. The children of our country will be the right people to take it forward and therefore I propose that we create an Archaeology Club with them as the first participants. They can visit places of historical interest and also study the sites being excavated by archaeologists. This will help them understand and assimilate our history without any bias. Coimbatore is a great place of learning and it’s appropriate that this initiative takes birth here," stated a thoughtful Rajan while handing out copies of his books and news letters at the time of the discussion.
He added further, "My exhibition CHRIST AND KRISHNA was well received in a number of places. It was through this exhibition that we show the archaeological sites connected with both of them. We should do this exhibition in Coimbatore too. It’s a pure archaeological exhibition and visitors can get to see the image of the Lord Krishna coin issued by Indo Greek ruler Agothocles (the coin was discovered through the Ai Khanoum excavations in Afghanistan).
Dr. Nanditha Krishna of the C.P.R Foundation was all praise for this when it was exhibited at Chennai some years ago. The exhibition also includes a number of images of sites connected with Lord Jesus Christ alongside pictures of places like the Prema Sarovara in Vrindavan where Lord Krishna met Radharani.
Rajan has spent a lot of time in Mayapur while on his search for information connected with Lord Krishna. He elucidated further, "Mayapur is a fantastic place and you will be surprised to learn that they do not use onion or garlic there. I was there for about a year and would want to settle down in such a place for good. For the moment I will be going to the US for sometime and on my return I wish to live in Coimbatore for sometime and take my Krishna studies forward. Coimbatore should hopefully be the place where I may be able to continue my archaeological studies in a big way."
The book "In Search of Lord Krishna" is a treasure house of information for it talks about a number of Mahabharata sites and dates. The reader can learn that the war began on the 22nd of November 3067 BC. He talks about the early archaeologists of Braj Mandal who included Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his six disciples known as Goswamis - Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Raghunathadasa Goswami, Gopala Batta Goswami, Jeeva Goswami and Raghunatha Batta Goswami who under strenuous journeys in the quest of places connected with Lord Krishna. The book shares details about the battle formations used in the Mahabharata war and also opinions of scholars who had differed on the above mentioned subject.
A discussion with scholars like T.K.V. Rajan can trigger a lot of people to undertake archaeological research around the globe.