HERITAGE: Palaeontological and Iconographical Aspects

The present book is based on the Faunal and Iconographical collections made by renowned scholars of the Vikram University of Ujjain and housed in the University Museum.

Part I deals with the faunal material collected by the late Dr. V.S. Wakankar from various areas in the Central Narmada Valley particularly in the districts of Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad. The collection throws important light on the palaeo-environmental history and chronology of the geological formations of the Narmada sediments. The Narmada Valley has proved to be a benchmark for the Old and New World faunal elements and patterns of their migration. Faunal groups included are the Proboscideans, Artiodactyles, Perissodactyles, Reptiles, Microvertebrates, etc. as also the Stone Age tools and Gondwana wood fossils. Comments on the Hathnora pre-Homo sapiens Man, recently discovered in the Valley, which has a great bearing on the Hominin evolution in South Asia as a whole, have also been included.

Part II reviews the Chalcolithic culture in the Ujjain region as based on the various archaeological excavations. The present work gives a brief idea about the movements of Chalcolithic Community of Malwa in context of the famous sites like Kayatha, Dangawada, Mahidpur, Runija, Ujjain and Sodanga. Classified and descriptive catalogues of the cults - icons, viz., Saiva, Vaisnava, Sakta and Jaina, etc., the rare sculptures of the SalabhaÛjika, Apsarases, etc. and the list of inscriptions preserved in the University Museum are included in this catalogue. Also included are the rare collections of the Manuscripts in Scindia Oriental Research Institute and the illustrations of the Bhaktivijaya by Mahipati.

We hope that this catalogue will be useful to students of Heritage Management particularly those interested in Palaeontology and Iconography of Madhya Pradesh.

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