Vadnagar International Conference for Promoting Archaeological Heritage & Culture
This year, India is celebrating the 75 years of Independence as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and as a part of this Government of Gujarat in association with Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organizing Vadnagar International Conference for Promoting Archaeological Heritage & Culture. The conference is also supported by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It is planned to be organized from May 18th to 20th, 2022 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Notable knowledge experts from India and across the globe will participate in the conference as a speaker. The conference would serve as a platform to share and exchange new ideas and learnings from across the world.
UNESCO being the event partner of the conference with IIT Gandhinagar as a knowledge partner. CEPT University and Anant National University as University partner.
The sessions of the conference have been decided in a view to promote Archaeological Heritage and Culture of Vadnagar.
The following Sessions will be covered in the conference:
This session will cover major discoveries from the Archaeological excavations at Vadnagar. Archaeological excavations conducted at Vadnagar town reveal 2500 years of continuous human habitation history with marked cultural diversity. Recent excavation has yielded cultural remains beginning from Pre- Mauryan to recent period which are assignable to 4th - 3rd century BCE to till date. The session will explore the major findings from the excavation including the shell bangle industry, archaeozoological remains, botanical studies and agricultural practices and many more.
Vadnagar was historically located at an important crossroads where two main ancient trade routes intersected, one from Central India to Sindh and other towards Rajasthan and North Gujarat. This makes Vadnagar as a vibrant ancient city with amalgamation of History, Heritage and Culture. The session will focus on the importance of strategic location of Vadnagar with ancient texts and literature along with Nagar community and their contribution.
Gujarat has the longest coastline among the states in India, and a rich history of water and its practices in ancient times. Sharmishtha Talav in Vadnagar is an interesting example of the water retaining systems of the Solanki period, as it is still in use. The session will talk about the traditional water system, ancient water structures and lakes of Vadnagar.
The sessions will cover the Buddhist findings and their significance in Vadnagar, Taranga Hill, Devnimori and other parts of Gujarat. The excavation has discovered buddhist monastery, rock paintings, votive stupas, antiquities of buddhist interest and many other such findings. The session will cover buddhist material culture that emerged in gujarat and its archaeological remains.
This session would discuss on the strategic location of Vadnagar and its influence on Maritime and cultural exchange. The trade network on both sea and land was established in Vadnagar. The session will talk about the Gujarat and Vadnagar trade influence and cultural exchange within the sailing communities.
The conference will serve as a platform for innovative ideas, strategies and different perspective from the speakers across the globe in the domain of Archaeological Heritage and Conservation. The session will primarily focus on the evolving technology to conserve the excavated sites and its remains, the new paradigm and challenges in the heritage conservation and its relationship with the business management to attain sustainable innovation.