CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Akbari Mahal, Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

The Alandurai Mahadeva temple is the more ancient and famous of the two Shiva temples at Kilappaluvar; the other one is ‘Pasupatisvaram’. The Alandurai Mahadeva temple complex comprises of a shrine of the Goddess 'Aruntava-Nayaki’. The existence of the present stone structure goes back to Parantaka I (907-954 CE), which can be asserted, from the inscriptions on the temple walls from his regnal years. The most interesting feature of the temple is presence of bronze images of the sixty-three Tamil saints – Saiva Nayanars. References: S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1963, pp.28-33, S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1971, pp.292-293.

Aldona, Baroque Architecture, Goa

Alengadu, Baroque Architecture, Kerala

The museum houses a representative collection of stone sculptures from the Allahabad district and surrounding regions such as other parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. The sculptures executed during 3rd century BCE through the 11th century of the Christ Era were discretely collected to be a part of this museum. This range covers examples of sculptural art of almost all historical periods that are of any significance to the study of Indian Art. In other words, the Allahabad Museum sculpture collection provides the most comprehensive overview of the Indian sculptural art through the ages.

The enormous collection of terracotta art of the Allahabad Museum allows us a deep insight into the socio-cultural life of Kausambi and other nearby archaeological sites, examples from where are largely included in this collection. The objects demonstrate a wide variety of themes depicted in clay, ranging from the images of deities to royal couples, mythological stories, common beings, toys, animals, portrait heads and even rare depiction of human anatomy. The objects were recovered from different cultural layers during excavation of Kausambi and other sites in and around Allahabad region.