RESEARCH GROUPS
PRASADA
(Practice, Research and Advancement in South Asian Design and Architecture)
- I. INTRODUCTION
- II. RESEARCH PROJECTS AND CONFERENCES
- III. ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN PROJECTS
- IV. SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS
- V. MPhil/PhD THESES
I. INTRODUCTION
The aim of PRASADA is to integrate academic research with creative practice in the architecture, visual arts and material culture of South Asia and its diaspora, through research projects and publications, design consultancy work, teaching and postgraduate research programmes.
PRASADA is based at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. The core research group listed below are attached to a number of institutions, and are linked to a wide network of scholars, artists and designers:
Convenor: Dr Adam Hardy (Cardiff University) (HardyA@cardiff.ac.uk)
- Dr Crispin Branfoot (SOAS)
- Professor Anna L. Dallapiccola (Honorary Professor, Edinburgh University)
- Dr Eiluned Edwards (Victoria and Albert Museum/London College of Fashion)
- Dr Fatima Zahra Hassan (London)
- Professor Ajay Khare (BIT, Mesra, Ranchi)
- Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri (Ajrakhpur, Kachchh)
- Dr Elizabeth Lambourn (De Montfort University, Leicester)
- Professor Jyotindra Jain (JNU, Delhi)
- Dr Shikha Jain (DRONAH, Gurgaon)
 Block-printed textile by Ismail Mohammad Khatri |
 Mystery of Aliff, Zahra Hassan |
II. RESEARCH PROJECTS AND CONFERENCES
The following is a list of research projects (current and completed) undertaken by the group, funded by the Society for South Asian Studies, the British Academy, INTACH UK and the Arts and Humanities Research Board:
- Art and Empire under Vijayanagara and the Successor States (Crispin Branfoot, Anna Dallapiccola)
- The Social Fabric (Eiluned Edwards)
- The Temple Architecture of India (Adam Hardy)
- Culturally Sensitive Healthcare Environments (Adam Hardy)
- Indian Classical Dance and Temple Architecture (Adam Hardy, Alessandra Lopez y Royo)
- Shekhari Temples (Adam Hardy)
- Vernacular Architecture of Orissa (Adam Hardy)
- Islamic Architecture of Gujarat (Elizabeth Lambourn)
- Conference: Traditional Arts of South Asia: Past Practice, Living Traditions
- Conference: The South Asian Legacy of Sir Aurel Stein
For more information click here
 House at Erbang, Orissa |
 Sekhari temple, Adam Hardy |
III. ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN PROJECTS
PRASADA has been commissioned as consultant to the following projects since 1996 (under the auspices of De Montfort Expertise Ltd.):
- Shri Venkateshwara Temple of the United Kingdom , Oldbury
Shree Krishna Temple , West Bromwich - Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, Mayapur, West Bengal
- Multi-faith Prayer Room at Leicester Royal Infirmary
- Consultancy to Birmingham City Council for regeneration of Sparkbrook (including design of street furniture)
- Consultancy to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London, for new cultural centre
Temple and Community Centre for Hindu Cultural Trust Centre, Hounslow - Mughal pavilion in Small Heath Park, Birmgingham (for BBC)
- Hindu Temple, Cambridge: conversion of former library hall.
For more information click here
 Mughal pavilion, Birmingham |
 Study for Sri Venkatesvara temple, Oldbury, Adam Hardy |
IV. SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Ruth Barnes & Crispin Branfoot (eds.), Pilgrimage: The Sacred Journey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2006).
Eiluned Edwards, "Patterns of adaptation: interpreting social change among the Rabaris of Kachchh district, Gujarat , through their material culture" in South Asian Studies 21 (2005), pp. 53-68.
Ajay Khare, Temple Architecture of Eastern India (Gurgaon, Shubhi Publications, 2005).
Eiluned Edwards, "Resist-dyed and block-printed textiles in Kachchh district, Gujarat " in Textile , Vol 3, Issue 2 (2005).
Anna L. Dallapiccola, Hindu Visions of the Sacred (London: The British Museum Press, 2004).
Shikha Jain, The Havelis of Rajasthan: Form and Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan (Gurgaon, Shubhi Publications, 2004).
Elizabeth Lambourn, "Carving and communities: marble carving for Muslim patrons at Cambay and around the Indian Ocean rim (late 13th - mid-15th centuries C.E.)", Ars Orientalis 34 (2004).
Crispin Branfoot, "The Madurai Nayakas and the Skanda temple at Tirupparankundram" in Ars Orientalis 33, 2003.
Anna L. Dallapiccola, Hindu Myths (London: The British Museum Press, 2003).
Jyotindra Jain, "Morphing Identitites: Reconfiguring the Divine and the Political", in: body.city. Siting contemporary culture in India (edited by Indira Chandrasekhar and Peter C. Seel), House of World Cultures, Berlin, and Tulika Publishers, New Delhi, 2003).
Crispin Branfoot, "'Expanding Form': The Architectural Sculpture of the South Indian Temple c.1500-1700" in Artibus Asiae vol LXII no.2 (2002), pp. 189-245.
Crispin Branfoot, "Bhima and Purusamirukam in the Nayaka-period Sculpture of Tamilnadu" in South Asian Studies vol.18 (2002), pp. 77-82.
Anna Dallapiccola and Anila Verghese, "Narrative Reliefs of Bhima and Purushamriga at Vijayanagara" in South Asian Studies 18 (2002), pp. 73-75.
Anna L. Dallapiccola, Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (London: Thames and Hudson , 2002).
Adam Hardy, "Sekhari Temples", in Artibus Asiae (Vol. LXII No. I, 2002), pp. 81-137.
Adam Hardy, "Tradition and Transformation: Continuity and Ingenuity in the Temples of Karnataka" in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (June 2001), pp. 180-199.
Jyotindra Jain, "Folk Artists of Bengal and Contemporary Images: A Case of Reverse Appropriation", in: Contemporary Indian Art. Other Realitites, edited by Yashodhara Dalmia (MARG Publications, Mumbai, 2001)
Elizabeth Lambourn, 'A collection of merits.' Architectural Influences in the Friday mosque and Kazaruni tomb complex at Cambay in Gujarat", South Asian Studies, 17, 2001, pp.117-149.
V. MPhil/PhD THESES
Completed PhD and MPhil (Cardiff University and De Montfort University)
Ashutosh Sohoni, PhD (1998) Temples of the Marathas in Maharashtra.
Meera Dass, PhD (2001) Udayagiri, a Sacred Hill: its Architecture, Sculpture and Landscape.
Shikha Jain, PhD (2002) The Havelis of Rajasthan: Form and Identity.
Deepanjana Danda, PhD (2003) Maharashtra and the Cross-Fertilisation of Style of Brahmanical Cave Temples in India.
Ajay Khare, PhD (2004) Temple Architecture of Bengal: 9 th -16 th Centuries.
Jyoti Sharma, PhD (2005) Urban Transformations through colonial intervention - A case study of Shahjahanabad /Old Delhi.
Anuradha Nambiar, MPhil (2005) Building Heritage: Reconstructing a Kerala past (2003-2005)
Himanish Das, PhD (2006) Principles of design, architectural form, language and construction techniques, in the traditional architecture of Jaisalmer.
PhD and MPhil in progress (Cardiff University and De Montfort University)
Fiona Buckee: Reconstructing an Indian Temple Tower: Temple 45, Sanchi.
Sona Datta: Art and Architecture of the Pandya Dynasty.
Ananya Gandotra: Computer Modelling and Analysis of the Shekhari Form of Indian Temple.
Rupa Gupta: The Wadas of Maharashtra: an Indian Courtyard House Form.
Sumesh Modi: Champaner-Pavagadh: Water Systems and Structures in Western India.
Ratish Nanda: Humayun's Tomb, from a Conservation Perspective.
Aminur Rahman: Settlements of the Chakma and Garo Ethnic Minorities in Bangladesh: an Analysis based on Rapid Participatory Analysis.
Neelam Raina: Crafts in Crisis: the Textiles of Kashmir.
Emma Ronald: Block-printed and Resist-dyed textiles of Jaipur.
Janhwij Sharma: Documentation and Analysis of the Buddhist Architecture of Ladakh.
Yashaswini Sharma: The Development of Bangalore.