South India Heritage

Book excerpt: What do you know about Carnatic music? South India`s dance styles? Handloom weavers of Andhra Pradesh? The Madras Sanskrit College? The art of Ivory carving? Temple murals? Who was Ramanuja? How have Christians contributed to art, literature and architecture in South India? What`s notable about Gangaikondacholapuram, Belur, or Islamic places of worship? What do we know irrigation practices in Ancient South India? The evolution of Malayalam literature? What is special about the cuisines of South India? These are some of the 500-odd topics on South India`s Heritage discussed in this book. It provides snapshots of the collective cultural experience of the people of South India, their heroes, their rivers, lakes and hills and forests, their temples, their music, dance and folklore. The book has a general section on South India`s Heritage, common to the four southern states. It is followed by three sections--political, socio-economic and cultural. The book covers South India`s Heritage till the end of the nineteenth century. The book is targeted specifically at Indian students from South India who go abroad for college education. It is meant to give them an idea of our heritage--kindle their interest in the subject, enable them to answer questions, serve as their heritage companion and guide. A product of painstaking research, the book reflects an earnest attempt to shed light on a complex, amorphous, many-faceted subject and give it form, shape and substance.