Seminal seminar

Krishnadevaraya and his Times edited by Anila Verghese was published by The K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (KRCOI), Bombay in 2013. The 500th anniversary of the coronation of this famed monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire of the Deccan, circa 1510 CE, was commemorated with seminars, conferences and publications highlighting the contribution of this great ruler. In January 2012 the KRCOI held a seminar on "Krishnadavaraya and His Times — Cultural Perspectives” and this volume includes papers presented on the occasion as well as articles by a galaxy of scholars from India and abroad especially commissioned for the same. Historian Verghese herself has contributed four of the 20 erudite chapters.

Anila Verghese (above right): telling the story of a great monarch

The text of this handsome, 452-page, hard bound book printed on art paper in a clear type face is punctuated with a number of maps and photographic illustrations. At the end are provided brief biographical sketches of the contributors, a select bibliography on the Vijayanagara as well as the Nayaka period that followed, and a detailed Index. The book is priced at Rs 800 and available from the KRCOI, 136, Bombay Samachar Marg, opposite Lions’ Gate, Bombay 400001.

S. V.