The Talk
Bateshwar group of temples located fifty kilometres from Gwalior is deep in the Chambal Valley. The surrounding area is infested with dreaded dacoits who controlled all activity. Here more than two hundred temples of 8th-11th century were lying in a highly ruinous condition.
After protracted negotiations with the dacoits by K K Muhammed, then the Chief of Archaeological Survey of India in MP, out of two hundred temples, devastated beyond recognition, eighty temples have been pieced together with meticulous care and precision. Here like the proverbial phoenix, a temple town came to life from its own ashes and debris. There still remains buried, the remains of hundred and twenty temples waiting to be excavated and restored.
Mr Muhammed shares the anguish and agony of fighting with the powerful mining mafia and joy and pleasures of reconstructing eighty temples from bits and pieces.
This is a thrilling story of one of the most outstanding archeology projects in India.
This Talk is in association with P M BHARGAVA FOUNDATION and held to commemorate the memory of Dr P M BHARGAVA, an outstanding public intellectual, scientist and institution builder.