By- Aishwarya ShrivastavBHOPAL: In conversation with the audience on the concluding day of Bhopal Literature Festival, noted writer Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty traced the cognitive roots of Indian art, archaeology and religion, with the theme as his best seller book — ‘Walking With Siva’.With focus on lord Shiva description permeating all communities, human and non-human, he talked about an art that is found all over the subcontinent and communities inhabiting around it. Through the talk, Chakravarty helped audience bridge the gap between singular identities and diverse differences with lord Shiva as a connecting factor defining beginning of the evolution. The book ‘Walking With Siva’ talks about excavations, explorations, conservation and restorations to understand the concepts and exploring the composite movement of architecture in the Indian art history.A visual presentation gave the audience an opportunity to supplement the theory of the book with images from the excavated study sites. The presentation began with image of massive 5th century AD Rudra Shiva image found at Tala in Chhattisgarh in India in 1987 that symbolizes the image of an universal being. This was followed by images of excavated sites of Dewarani Jethani temple at Tala district of Chhattisgarh that has been domesticated now altering the landscape of the site. By giving example of a sculpture unearthed at Tala that does not have any parallel in any of the popular ancient stories audience was given a visual tour of the archeological process.The session concluded with a brief question round where audience asked the author to elaborate on the archaeological experiences of the author and his team while excavating important sites.

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