MGS Narayanan, ex-ICHR chairman who offered a new perspective on Kerala's history, no more
Narayanan conducted extensive research on Kerala's history, offering a new perspective and interpretation, and authored several works, including on the state's Aryanisation.
Hailing from Ponnani in Malappuram, Muttayil Govidan Menon Sankara Narayanan, who was later known as MGS in the corridors of historical research, began his career as a faculty at Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode after obtaining masters in history.
In 1968, he joined the University of Calicut as a lecturer and headed the history department from 1970 until his retirement in 1992.
During that time, he was instrumental in establishing a specialised library and a museum of Kerala History and Culture. During his illustrious career as a historian, Narayanan served as visiting faculty at several national and international academic centres.
He served as the chairman of ICHR from 2001 to 2003. Narayanan had been closely associated with the Indian History Congress from the 1970s and served at its various bodies for the next three decades. He became the president of the Indian History and Cultural Society in 2001.
He also played a key role in establishing and promoting the South Indian History Congress, the Epigraphical Society of India, and the Place Name Society of India. His publications include three volumes of sources for Kerala History and a compilation of extracts from research works in the last hundred years of the Malabar region in Kerala. He discovered and published a Brahmi inscription of Bindusara from Sanchi, and several medieval Vattezhuttu inscriptions of Kerala.
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The Hindu
6 days ago
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Art historian Naman Ahuja on the repatriation of the Piprahwa Buddha relics
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Scholarly consensus is that the relics from Piprahwa have every reason to be a part of the original share of the cremated remains of the Buddha that were entrusted to the Shakyas — the Buddha's paternal family. The archaeological dating and context fits this and an ancient Brahmi inscription on one of the relic caskets found inside the stupa at Piprahwa corroborates this view. Further, the gems that the Shakyas interred with the cremated remains are cut using tools that were also known to be used only in very ancient times. There can be little dispute about their antiquity or significance. Q: Now that the relics have been repatriated, in what ways would they have to be taken care of? And does India have the necessary resources, manpower, and will to do so? A: Yes, we do. Even in ancient times, their trusteeship was passed on with care, and entire monastic administrative machineries were in place to look after these matters. Ashes or charred remains of a person, their bodily relics, were treated with deep respect in antiquity — whether by the megalith builders or in Vedic or Buddhist cultures. They form the core of stupas that attract pilgrims. Elaborate rituals were held around them. However, I must hasten to add that alongside the religious importance of these relics, we must also recognise their importance for history. They mattered to the Shakyas, who committed them to public benefit and built monasteries around them. They come from Piprahwa, a site in the original Buddhist holy land, which is a region that many emperors maintained. That region deserves our attention again now. Modern India has put administrative functions in place for museums, research, archaeology and Buddhist affairs, and this case should catalyse the functioning of these departments. These relics have mobilised extraordinary research in modern times. That function is an equally important one to maintain. Q: You had said in a talk that repatriation should not be motivated merely by national chauvinism. A: No, the desire for merely possessing an object is only a manifestation of materialism. As instruments of history, or of spiritual edification, however, they have to be able to inspire diverse public stakeholders. Indeed, we must be careful to remember that for millions of Buddhists in East Asia, Southeast Asia, or anywhere else in the world, the relics of the Buddha hold profound spiritual significance. India and the current owners have an opportunity to be of service to them. Q: Do you think India's stance in this case should be its position regarding all religious relics? A: In the case of those relics where it can be reasonably established whose relics they are, where the land, site or people from whom they have been taken are known, and when they hold the kind of enormous spiritual significance that these ones do, then yes, they should be repatriated. However, as a museums person, I know how enormously difficult, specialised and expensive taking care of objects, paintings and buildings can be. Taking care of relics that combine the needs of devotees with historians, scientists, geologists and others is going to be that much harder. It is better to take on these responsibilities only to the extent they can be performed properly. Otherwise, one comes across as an insatiable child whose insecurities and perceived deprivation just make it want more and more without any idea of what looking after those things entails. It would be horrible if these relics were turned into a flavour of the month, only to be replaced by some other 'object' quickly enough. Q: After being flown in from Hong Kong, the relics were taken to the National Museum in Delhi. Relics are not objects. Is a museum the best place for them? A: Fabulous question! And a tough one, too. I have had to mull over this question for the past few months, and I can address it from two perspectives. Ancient relics were once paraded and put in transparent caskets of rock-crystal in which they could be seen. History shows their aura was sensed through different means: their energy could come through a stupa of mud, brick and stone; at the same time, through acculturation and suggestion cognition came into play when the remembrance or memory of a life respected by many was communicated; and then of course, they were visually beheld. Museums can perform all three functions. This brings me to the second part of the answer, and this involves the evolving functions of museums in society. These are institutions that showcase our highest civilisational achievements. That showcasing is now informed by profoundly knowledgeable communication. Again, I believe the presence of the relics offers India an opportunity to build its capacities on these fronts. 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It has looked after the sacred relics from Buddhist sites, but now an opportunity has come to vastly improve research and display. I'd also like to place on record that museums all over the world with collections of Indian artefacts have inspired many universities' scholars to study the languages and culture of India and have shaped perception and policy towards India. They have safeguarded and looked after invaluable heritage. Often, this is overlooked on social media and everything abroad is presented as 'loot' when this need not always be the case. It is imperative that a calibrated position is taken in each case after examining the history behind something's removal from India. Secondly, before repatriating something, we must ask if we already have many similar pieces in India, and will that repatriation fill a major gap? When our museums and the Archaeological Survey of India are so cash-strapped, there's little point adding to our expenses with objects we aren't able to mobilise for the benefit of researchers or the public. Q: During a visit to Thailand earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that India would once again loan sacred relics of the Buddha to Thailand. What do you think about relics being used as a diplomatic tool? A: I think it is a very good idea. Such relics and objects must be shared as widely as possible. After all, they were originally endowed for the public in a stupa. Calling them a diplomatic 'tool', however, is a little cynical or even harsh, in fact. Indeed, many diplomats and administrators have to use their tools to enable a communication of narratives of religion, memory and history, of auras and aesthetics. These are not normally a diplomat's tools. Q: Did the attempt to auction the Buddha's relics perpetuate colonial violence? What does this particular case say about broader post-colonial politics? A: I believe the U.K. government did not find it necessary to take any moral or ethical action to assist India's endeavour in protecting the sale of the Buddha's bodily relics. Their state made the rules by which the despoliation of the stupas and private ownership of the Buddha's relics were granted to its colonial functionaries. Yet, without any official statement on the matter from them, it seems they are protecting the agencies of colonialism, Sotheby's and the Peppé family's monetisation of the relics. I am told that without any support, India was left with no choice but to take the course of action it did in asking a philanthropist to step in. 'Post' colonial, you ask? The textbook definition of colonialism remains. You take something for free from the colony and sell it back to the colony at a price you stipulate. radhika.s@
New Indian Express
10-08-2025
- New Indian Express
For the Captain, forever
TIRUCHY: 'Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.' Walt Whitman penned O Captain! My Captain! in 1865 in memory of his father-like figure, US President Abraham Lincoln. Though the poet never met Lincoln, his verses became a lasting bridge, binding admiration, reverence, and the Captain's enduring legacy. Such bonds are rare in an age where loyalty often masks betrayal. Forget verses, which friend would pour their savings into treating the poor, purely in memory of a friend? Few, if any. Yet, in the quiet town of Manapparai in Tiruchy, a man on whose face time had etched the wisdom and weariness of seventy-odd years, R Chandrasekaran, has been doing exactly that for nearly three decades — keeping alive the spirit of service of his dearest friend, the late Dr V N Lakshmi Narayanan. Hailing from Valanadu village, Chandrasekaran, a Political Science graduate, ran a modest medical shop with his wife, C Mangaiyarkarasi. The shop stood opposite Dr Narayanan's hospital, and from across the road grew a friendship grounded in shared values. Dr Narayanan devoted his life to treating the poor, often refusing payment or accepting only small contributions from those who could afford it. The two families had been close for decades. Chandrasekaran's father and Dr Narayanan were neighbours, and incidently, Chandrasekaran himself was born in the doctor's hospital. Over the years, the bond deepened. 'Our friendship went beyond working together,' Chandrasekaran recalls. In 1994, tragedy struck. Dr Narayanan died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving behind an irreplaceable void. Nearly two lakh mourners gathered for his funeral. Chandrasekaran stood alongside the doctor's adopted son, V N L Srinivasan, performing the last rites as though he were a son himself. For him, the loss was personal and profound. Yet in grief, a resolve took root: his friend's work would not end with his passing. 'I wanted to continue what Narayanan had started,' he says.
