Niranjana, a perennial flow of enlivening waters or the magnetic fall moon, aptly resonates with the personality of our revered teacher Dr. Seshabhatta Nagaraju. Born to Puttalakshamma and Seshabhatta on 14 August, 1936, Sir hails from a learned family from Natijangud, near Mysuru. As an ambitious young student, he went to Maharaja College Mysuru to obtain B.A. Hons in Indology (1957). He continued in the same college and was awarded M.A in Indology (1958). Deeply interested in Epigraphy and Archaeology, he joined School of Archaeology (AST), Delhi for Diploma in Archaeology. He enrolled for PhD at Dharwad University and received Doctoral Degree in Buddhist Art (1977). As Dr. Nagaraju chose to be a lecturer, a large community of students had the fortune of being mentored by him.
Dr. Nagaraju's profound research and lasting observations still illuminate academic enquiry. He contributed number of articles on Indian History and Archaeology, Arn & Epigraphy, Buddhist Studies, South East Asian cultures, Social Dynamics of Art, and Literature. The list of his publications shows manifold interest and a passion to share knowledge. He published extensively in English, and especially in Kannada he has done remarkable scholastic service. Two compendiums from his pen await publication and their titles stir-up enthusiasm. These manuscripts were titled Stipa-Lakshana Karika, Buddhist Rock Art of Andhra Pradesh.
His commitment to research and diligent investigative skills brought him into "field archaeology" as he supervised the Hemmige Excavations along with Dr. M Hanumantha Rao. Action Archaeology has been his forte and he has been Honorary Director, Institute of Action Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Bangalore He is a linguist par excellence, epigraphist of in-depth reading, archaeologist of sharp observations and a historian of art, architecture and iconography. A multi-lingual scholar, being proficient with English, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and Bhasa Indonesia.
As a teacher, Dr. Nagaraju would instill zeal in field investigation, data analysis and extensive study of all possible historical sources. His association with doyens of scholarship from his student times and comradery with his fellow researchers is fondly cherished among academic circles. He connected student community across institutes and universities in Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana, U.K and Indonesia.
Always at threshold to welcome fresh breeze of thought, enquiry, idea or quandary, Sir has been a guide in true connotation. His spectrum of knowledge in the fields of historical enquiry is beyond the limits of specialization. Dr. Nagaraju exudes child-like enthusiasm, eagerness to publish, and to explore new areas of investigation. As recent as 2023, at an age of eighty seven, Sir expressed his desire to travel to Indonesia and meet his earlier research colleagues or to measure beams of the Lena on Ratnagiri. Being an expert on Buddhist Cave architecture, he had addressed to some pertinent concerns regarding the chronology and categorization of Western Indian Caves in his applauded work. In the review of his book Buddhist Architecture of Western India (C.250 BC to C.A.D.300), Phil Wagoner appreciates the lasting contributions rendered by Dr. S.Nagaraju. His observations are given on the rear blurb of this felicitation volume (The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 1981).
Our endeavour to felicitate Dr. S. Nagaraju with a volume in his honour gave us a wonderful opportunity to interact with the esteemed scholarship. In unassuming ways, the scholars showed resilience in managing formal commitments, pressing personal and professional engagements, and ensured timely submission of papers. We thank all the scholars for appreciating our intent to bring out the volume in time. This has been a beautiful journey with exciting articles being posted time to time making this a concerted mission to preserve the legacy of anointing our gurus with the 'eternal letter (Aksharabhisheka).
We thank Dr. Radhika Herzberger, Dr. Myneni Krishna Kumari, Dr. Varsha Shirgaonkar and Dr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee for being the early contributors of this volume. They raised our hopes of bringing out this volume as per the commitment. Our sincere thanks to Dr. A P. Jamkhedkar for his constant support. We thank Smt. Pabiben Rabari, Shri. Vikram Singh Sodha for giving new perspectives on art and artistic enterprise. We appreciate the enthusiasm of our young team of boys Utkarsh Gaur, Vikas Dalal, TS.K Raghavendra in assisting at every juncture of the compilation. We are specially thankful to Utkarsh for designing the cover pages and the layout of the book. We thank Dr. Shrinivas V. Padigar, Dr. Rohit Eswar for sharing valuable photos of Dr. Nagaraju. We thank De. R.H. Kulkarni, Dr. C.B. Patil, Dr. S.K. Aruni, Dr. T.S. Ravishankar, Dr. Githa Badikillaya, and Sri. M. Rammohan Rao, for giving thrust and focus to our idea of bringing out festschrift on our beloved teacher. We thank the family members of Dr. Nagaraju for providing his publications list and his illustrious career details and photographs. We thank all the scholars whose contributions grace this volume. Their esteemed career details are presented in the volume.
We thank Smt. Lila Devi Proprietress of Mis Agam Kala Prakashan. Our gratitude to Shri Ashok Kumar Pandey, The Agam Kala Prakashan for taking upon the task of reaching out to scholars requesting them to contribute articles for the Festschrift. Shri Ashok Kumar Pandey has been truly an assuring lead in this effort.
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