Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan | |
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| Born | 1910 (1910) Tiruchirappalli,Tamil Nadu, India |
| Died | 30 November 1992(1992-11-30) (aged 81–82) Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation(s) | Archeologist, historian |
| Known for | archeological work and writings on theCave Temples of Mahabalipuram |
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Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan (1910 – 30 November 1992) was an Indian archeologist, historian and the author of a number of books on Indian history and culture. He was best known for his archeological work on theCave Temples of Mahabalipuram. TheGovernment of India awarded him thePadma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 1991.
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K. R. Srinivasan was born in 1910 atTiruchirapalli, a temple town in the south Indian state ofTamil Nadu.[1] Choosing botany as subject, he secured an MSc from theUniversity of Madras after completing the course atPresidency College, Chennai and started his career atSt. Joseph's College, Trichy as a lecturer of botany. His elder brother, K. R. Venkataraman, was a noted historian and the elder brother's work onPudukottai was reported to have inspired Srinivasan to take up archaeology. In 1936, he joined Pudukottai museum as its curator.[2] Later, when the museum was taken up by theArchaeological Survey of India and renamed as theGovernment Museum, Pudukkottai, he continued there until his official retirement from service in 1968 as its deputy director general.[1]
During his service, Srinivasan undertook several archaeological missions inPuduchery,Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu of which the most notable one was his work on theCave Temples of Mahabalipuram.[1] He documented the temples fromPallava period and published a book, theTemples of South India which has since been translated intoHindi[3] andTamil languages[4] and is a prescribed text for academic studies.[5] He also published another book, theCave-temples of the Pallavas based on his work inMahabalipuram.[6] It was during this research, he discovered a hidden passage in one of the temples leading to a series of carvings depicting 81karanas.[7] Later, he studied theBuddha statues atBorobudur and his studies ofBuddha were also documented as a book,The Story of Buddha; this book is a part ofsecondary school curriculum in Tamil Nadu.[8]The Harappan and the Vedic Cultures[9] andThe Age of Vidyaranya were two of his other books.[10]
Srinivasan guidedPadma Subrahmanyam, a noted IndianBharatanatyam dancer, in her doctoral studies on the karanas.[1][7] After retirement, he moved back to his native place, Trichy, and it was here he died in 1992, at the age of 82.[11]
Srinivasan was honored by the Government of India with thePadma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in 1991, a year before his death.[12] His birth centenary was observed in 2011 by theArchaeological Survey of India, as a mark of honor.[13] On the occasion, afestschrift was also released under the title,Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art and culture : birth centenary volume of Padma Bushan Dr. C. Sivaramamurti and Padma Bushan Sh. K.R. Srinivasan.[14][15]
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