The fourth lecture in the Archaeology Seminar Series (ASS) was held on 20th February 2016 at U.C College. The ASS is a public outreach programme of UCC Archaeological Museum and the Archaeology and Museology course run by the Department of History. The series was inaugurated in 2012 by S.A Abraham, St. John’s University. The second and third lectures were by Federico de Romanis, University of Padua, Italy andK.Krishnan, Maharaja Sayajirao University, India respectively.
This week the fourth seminar under ASS was delivered by V.T Padmaja, former head of the department of History, V.T.B College Mannampatta on “The Iconography of the Saptamatrukas of Kerala’ based on her pioneering research work on the images from various temples and kavus in Kerala. These feminine divinities are linked with the cult of fertility and the Harappan mother goddess cult which were later institutionalized in the form of Sakti in Brahmanical Hinduism and had counterparts in Jainism and Buddhism. The Saptamatrukas therefore form a crucial point of acculturation in the face of peace rather than confrontation in the religious history of India and of feminine spirituality.
The seminar was attended by 64 participants from host institution, Sree Sankara University, Kerala Museum, University of Kerala, Centre for Advocacy, Research and Training, Kerala Management Association, Cochin Numismatic Society and M.A College of Engineering.
Sheena V.R, Jenee Peter, Suja.K.Sam, Thara.K.Simon, K.K Surendran, V.T Padmaja and Carmal John spoke. The interactive session was chaired by Archana T.R and rapporteurs were Anju K.P and S. Vedavyasan.
