Two-day seminar on burial traditions of South Asia begins in Assam

Guwahati: The Assam Directorate of Archaeology, under the umbrella of the state Indigenous and Tribal Faith and Culture Department, is organising an international seminar on recent archaeological pursuits in burial traditions of South Asia and Southeast Asia, in Kamrup Metropolitan district’s Sonapur on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26. 

The two-day seminar will be attended by delegates and scholars from Thailand, Sri Lanka and different parts of India.

Additionally, an online session has also been organised where scholars from Afghanistan and the Czech Republic will present their research works.

The seminar, which aims to ensure deliberations among various scholars from different parts of the world, is expected to be fruitful in wider understanding of different types of burial traditions present across the world and their subsequent correlation with “Maidams,” the burials mounds of the Ahom kings, queens and nobles, found exclusively in Assam’s Charaideo district.

The welcome address, during the inaugural ceremony of the seminar, will be delivered by Commissioner and Secretary of the Indigenous and Tribal Faith and Culture Department, Ranjan Sharma.

The Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), YS Rawat, will grace the occasion as the chief guest.

The keynote address during the academic session will be delivered by eminent historian Prof JN Phukan.

On day two, the delegation will pay a field visit to Madan Kamdev archaeological site in Kamrup district’s Baihata Chariali.