The American Institute of Indian Studies in Gurgaon

IF ever the Bamiyan Buddhas are reconstructed, somewhere in the credit lines will figure the name of the Gurgaon-based American Institute of Indian Studies. Run by a consortium of American universities and colleges, the AIIS is a centre for research by visiting western scholars into subjects ranging from architecture to zoology, connected with India and some of our neighbours. The institute has an archival storehouse of about 150,000 photographs of ancient monuments, including those of the huge Buddha statues at Bamiyan in Afghanistan, demolished last year by the Taliban.

According to the institute’s Director-General, Dr Mehendiratta, the new Afghan Government has approached the AIISfor assistance in restoring the world famous monuments. In their archives is a collection of photographs of the statues and the maze of caves and passages around them, taken from all possible angles by Dr Walter Spink, 38 years ago.

Of the two statues, carved in separate niches on the calcareous rock face, the smaller one was 38 metres high and the larger 55 metres. They were there when Hieun Tsang visited them in 632 AD. The Institute’s CD on the subject refers to his description: "To the north-east of the royal city there is a mountain, on the declivity of which is placed a stone figure of Buddha, erect in height. Its golden hues sparkle on every side and its precious ornaments dazzle the eyes with their brightness."

A figure of Buddha painted in the vaulted roof of a cave in Afghanistan.

The 175-foot-tall statue of Buddha, built between the fourth and sixth centuries, as it stood before its destruction by the Taliban.

Not only were these figures magnificent, they were surrounded by a maze of caves and passages, some of them decorated with ancient and invaluable frescos. Age and vandalism had taken their toll on all of them, but nothing like the Taliban onslaught. Dr Spink had captured much of this ancient treasure on film and it is preserved in the AIIS’ archives.

The AIIS has its headquarters in India in Gurgaon (Sector 32) and in the USA in Chicago. The former also houses centres for the study of art and architecture, and ethnomusicology. The institute was set up 35 years ago with funds from prominent foundations like Ford, Rockefeller, Mellon and Carnegie. The leading spirit behind the effort was W. Norman Brown, Professor of sanskrit at the University of Pennsylvania.

Today the AIIS receives aid from the Smithsonian Institution, the USIA and several other organisations and is recognised as the leading proponent of Indian studies in that country. It provides fellowship support for scholars and Ph.D candidates in the USA, where 173 universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, offer courses in Indian studies. More than 5,500 persons have drawn on its resources for their work. Over 3000 books and thousands of articles have been produced as a result of work done at the institute.

Recently the institute held a function to mark the release of Vol 1, Part 4-A of the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, covering the Vijaynagara period in the South, and another volume on the Jain temples in Kumbhariaya, Gujarat.

Each volume has been meticulously researched and architectural drawings made of these structures. This apart, the institute also runs courses for study of Indian languages for visiting research scholars. In Udaipur, it teaches Hindi, in Madurai, Tamil and in Kolkata, Bengali. It also has arrangements for placing scholars at centres where other languages can be taught. Conferences and workshops are a part of its academic routine.

The Centre for Art and Archeology has 150,000 photographs and colour slides documenting this subject. The library houses 55,000 books, including some journals not available anywhere else in the country. The monuments studied have been carefully photographed and the drawings prepared by professional architects.

The sites covered number 2,000. About 5,000 temples have been documented and plans, elevation and site maps prepared for 3,600 of them. About 50,000 photographs have been supplied to students for Ph.D theses. About 7,500 pictures are available on the web.

The Research Centre for Ethnomusicology provides a centralised collection of Indian music for students of this subject. The archives are one of the largest audio-visual repositories of oral musical tradition and performing arts of India. The institute is also trying to procure rare collections from abroad, including those made by Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold Blake in the 1930s. Whatever is stored here is kept in a climate-controlled vault.

Almost 7,000 recordings covering Hindustani, Carnatic, folk, tribal, film, modern, devotional, theatre and ritual music are available at the AIIS, Gurgaon.