Values We Share World Heritage Sites in the India-Asean Region

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About the Book World Heritage sites inscribed by UNESCO are important markers of Nation States' portrayal of their unique cultural heritage in the sphere of global diplomacy. World Heritage sites provide critical insights into vexed issues of contemporary representations of the past and cultural identity. This book addresses this vital theme from the point of view of connectivity and shared cultural spaces in India and the ASEAN region. The book is a pioneering attempt at placing World Heritage monuments and archaeological sites on a global trans-national platform. It will be of interest not only to the general reader and the history buff but will also offer insights for students of international relations, history and cultural studies.

About the Author Himanshu Prabha Ray is Research Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford and Anneliese Maier Fellow, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. She is former Chairperson of the National Monuments Authority, Ministry of Culture in New Delhi, India, and former Professor in the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Her research interests include Maritime History and Archaeology of the Indian Ocean, the History of Archaeology in South and Southeast Asia and the Archaeology of Religion in Asia. Her earlier edited books on the subject include Bridging the Gulf: Maritime Cultural Heritage of the Western Indian Ocean, India International Centre & Manohar Publishers: New Delhi, 2016; Indian World Heritage Sites in Context, National Monuments Authority and Aryan Books International: New Delhi, 2014; Mausam: Maritime Cultural Landscapes Across the Indian Ocean, National Monuments Authority and Aryan Books International: New Delhi, 2014.

Preface The idea of this book originated in January 2017, when Ambassador Shyam Saran, then Chairman of Research and Information Systems for Developing Societies (RIS), New Delhi invited me to present a paper at the 2nd International Conference ASEAN-India Cultural and Civilizational Links, held on 19 January 2017 at Jakarta. The papers presented at the meeting and the discussion raised several interesting issues relating to monuments, heritage, museums and the involvement of the community in the preservation of knowledge of the past for a sustainable future. One of the recommendations of the conference was "to promote continuous dialogue, debate and discussion on issues that highlight cultural diversity, multi-religious and plural nature of contacts in the ASEAN-India region." This book has drawn on and built on the recommendations of the Jakarta conference supplemented by my own training in archaeology and history, as also experience as Chairperson, National Monuments Authority, Ministry of Culture.

In February 2017, I was invited by RIS to deliver lectures in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi as a part of the ASEAN-India Eminent Persons' Lecture Series Programme, which provided me an opportunity to travel to several World Heritage Sites in Vietnam. This was followed by visits to Thailand and Indonesia. Another opportunity arose in February - March 2018 when I was invited by the Fine Arts Department, Thailand to contribute to a volume edited by Amara Srisuchat on Featuring Buddhist Imagery from Bharata to Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok, 2018 on the occasion of an exhibition marking the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and India and 25 years of relations between ASEAN and India.

The Archaeological Survey of India needs to be thanked for visuals of WH sites in India. I have also sourced photographs from Dr. Debdutta Ray and from my personal collection. Dr. Susan Verma Mishra has helped in the preparation of the Appendices and three of the papers. Finally, it is to the credit of the publisher Mr. Vikas Arya that he came forward and agreed to convert the manuscript into an elegant book.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages