Ajanta to Angkor Wat QJMS 115 3(new)

Book Review Book Review Ajanta to Angkor Wat (A heritage conservation journey.....), Author: S. Subbaram, ISBN:978-81-932702-8-8, Publisher: The Mythic Society, 2024, pp.xv-272, Rs.600.00/ Jayasimha.P Research, Mythic Society Email: [email protected] This is an autobiographical work written by Shri S. Subbaraman, Padmashree awardee, Superintending Archaeological Chemist (Retd.) ASI & Former Director, INTACH Chitrakalaparishath Art Conservation Centre, (ICKPAC), Bengaluru. Autobiographies and memoirs are usually written by people who have occupied positions of power and influence and whose actions might have had some impact on public life. One of the striking features of his autobiography is that it reflects his passion for the work and the work culture of yesteryears. The book is divided into 13 sections. Shri S.Subbaraman narrates his journey from his upbringing in an orthodox family set up in a small south Indian town to being a national asset. He is still proud of his routes and connects well with his past. He also emphasizes the need for recording the major and minor events in one’s life as it may encourage others to develop confidence and also to do a self-introspection. One of the striking features of his autobiography is that it reflects his passion for the work, which is now disappearing from society. The pride with which he presents his work will make any reader do a self-introspection and assess oneself to investigate whether we have done justice to our job. His career has been extremely meritorious and the same is presented with humility and grace. Shri S. Subbaraman’s entire tenure in the ASI was spent handling the most delicate murals, which are more than a thousand years onwards, along with developing strategies for conserving them. As a specialist in Archaeological Chemistry, his focus was mostly on selecting the right chemicals to give life to the delicate murals without causing any damage to them. His sincerity towards his work and the institution was well recognized by the Government of India by conferring a Padma award on him in 2023. His story is mostly about his working life, A.S.I., used to entrust the work of structural conservation of monuments to the Central P.W.D. in its earlier years but later started having their engineers, trained to do the work, the Chemistry Branch was started in 1917. Dr. S. Paramasivan was a pioneer in the scientific study of our old mural paintings. He also developed innovative methods for the treatment of old bronzes such as electrolytic cleaning, when he was the Curator of conservation, in the State Museum, Madras. He later joined A.S.I. Dr S.Paramasivan selected Shri S.Subbarama to ASI, with his experiences on such iconic monuments as Ajanta, the Veerabhadraswami temple at Lepakshi, the Brihadeeshwara temple, Thanjavur, the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan, Afghanistan and the one and only Angkor Wat in Cambodia etc. The conservation of sites, such as Ajanta mural painting conservation and, old mural paintings at Brihadeeshwara temple, Thanjavur etc., where he also developed innovative methods for the treatment, which stand as testimony to his work and got international recognition for his work. In the following account, he has dealt with his home town, family, early life and educational career at some length not only to provide a background but to offer some glimpses of what life was like in the 30’s and 40’s of the last century. He has also interspersed the narrative of his working life with vignettes of his personal life and anecdotes in an attempt to make it a composite story of a heritage conservator, not just a catalogue of conservation projects. In the last part, he speaks about his present retired life and some of his random reflections. 209