CIS-A2K/Events/Expert talk on heritage documentation

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Speaker: Suraj Pandit
Archaeologist Suraj Pandit explaining the history of Kanheri caves, Mumbai
Speaker: Suraj Pandit
HOD, Department of Buddhist Studies and Department of Indian Culture, Sathaye College

About me

Archaeologist and art historian, whose area of interest is Western Indian Buddhist rock-cut architecture.

My work

I have done my PhD on "Religious Development of Buddhism Understood through the Art of Kanheri" under the guidance of Prof. A. P. Jamkhedkar. I have also worked on “Inscriptions in Western Indian Caves” - a Indian Council of Historical Research supported project during 2003-04 and have authored books like "Age of Traikutakas", "Buddhist and Pashupata Caves in Mumbai", "Shakti in Indian Archaeology, Art, Literature and Philosophy" and "Stories in Stone". I have also served as a senior historian consultant on Shishupalgad and Ajanta Management Plan Committee for the Archaeological Survey of India till 2010 and am currently acting as the Head of Department at the departments of Buddhist Studies and Indian Culture of Sathaye College.


Event information

Talk: "Photo documentation of historic objects along with authentic data"


  • When:  to
  • Location: https://meet.google.com/wsj-gtjm-ebk
  • Who: Dr. Suraj Pandit
  • URL: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/A2KSurajPandit
  • Summary: Intended audience: Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata volunteers working on heritage of India. (invitation only)
  • Report edit

    The sessions were attended by 17 Wikimedians across India and four A2K members. The details are on etherpad. The first session started at 6 pm and ended at 7.30 pm while the second session was conducted from 7.45 pm to 8.45 pm. In the first session, Dr Suraj dealt with fundamentals of heritage documentation. The topics covered were - objectives of documentation, personal biases & perceptions affecting the process, the importance of scales and the Government departments dealing with the monuments. The rules of photography, recording and the protocols were discussed. The expert demonstrated the actual cases of documentation where tripods, ladders and artificial lights were used with permission. he also explained the pros and cons of the process. The importance of scales was explained with various examples.

    The second session dealt with documentation of traditions, oral histories for building context to images and examples from Kanheri caves documentation. Dr. Pandit also explained his research experiences with the communities and institutions while answering to questions of the members. He has agreed to support specific documentation activities by the Wikimedians in different states. The follow-up plan for this will be developed with the communities in near future.