Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Release of VIF Series on ‘History of Ancient India’

The first five Volumes of the 11 volume series on ‘History of Ancient India’ being prepared under the aegis of the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) were released by former Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Opposition National Democratic Alliance, Shri L.K. Advani on 23rd December 2013 at an impressive ceremony at the VIF Auditorium. The Editors of the 11 volumes series are Prof. Dilip K. Chakrabarti (Professor Emeritus of South Asian Archaeology at Cambridge University) and Prof. Makkhan Lal (noted historian and archaeologist).

December 26, 2013 Event Report

History of Ancient India (Vol. I - V) released on 23 December 2013

Volume I: Prehistoric Roots Volume II: Protohistoric Foundations Volume III: The Texts, Political History and Administration, till c. 200 BC Volume IV: Political History and Administration (c.200 BC-AD 750) Volume V: Political History and Administration (c.AD 750-1300) Book Discription

December 23, 2013 Books/Book Review

Debating Culture; Anirban Ganguly; D K Printworld (P) Ltd, New Delhi, 2013; PP 158; Price Rs 400

Dr Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Editor, VIF History Volumes

Dr Anirban Ganguly’s book Debating Culture discusses the concept of culture in the writings of several outstanding national thinkers.

October 24, 2013 Books/Book Review

Launch of “Debating Culture” at VIF

“Debating Culture”, authored by Dr Anirban Ganguly was launched at the VIF on October 8, 2013, by Prof. Dilip Kr Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, Prof. Kapil Kapoor, Former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Shri Ajit Doval, KC, Director VIF. Initiating the discussions, Shri Doval observed that nations need to initiate and continue the exploration of their civilisational and cultural identity. Shri Doval also asserted that there was a need to strike the right balance between soft and hard power.

October 10, 2013 Event Report

Alternate Perceptions of India: Arguing for a Counter Narrative

Dr Anirban Ganguly

Introduction Descriptions of India and of Hindus that have assumed a dominant position in the discourse on Indian civilisation and culture have mostly been those which have distorted the perception of India. Written and expounded with a clear objective of undermining the Indian self-image and self-estimation, these portrayals of India’s traditions and life are the ones which have largely influenced and shaped the understanding of India not only among generations of colonial administrators who came to India but among Indians themselves.

May 17, 2013 Paper

Vimarsha: “Decolonising the Indian Mind” with Prof. Kapil Kapoor, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, JNU

On 16 March 2013, VIF welcomed Prof. Kapil Kapoor, former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Editor in Chief of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism, as the guest speaker on its Vimarsha series of talks by eminent persons. Mr. Ajit Doval KC, Director VIF, stated that “Minds” will be the future tools of establishing control and therefore it is very important to understand how colonised the Indian mind today is. More daunting is the task of “Decolonising the Indian Mind” – precisely the subject on which Prof. Kapoor was going to deliberate upon during his talk.

March 22, 2013 Event Report

Vimarsha: 'Swami Vivekananda on Women: Meeting the Contemporary Challenges' a talk by Shri Dhanendra Kumar

With the gruesome Delhi gang-rape of last December shaking up the conscience of this very nation, also providing a strong stimulus for course correction measures, a talk on 'Swami Vivekananda on Women: Meeting the Contemporary Challenges' was organized by Vivekananda International Foundation on January 28, 2013, with Shri Dhanendra Kumar, former Secretary Culture, Govt. of India and former Executive Director World Bank as the chief speaker.

January 31, 2013 Event Report

Vimarsha: Scientific Dating of the Ancient Events from 2000 to 7000 B.C by Ms Saroj Bala

Vimarsha - VIF’s monthly series of talks - was held on Jun 29, 2012. Ms Saroj Bala, Member - Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, Ministry of Finance – Govt. of India & Director - Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas, gave an insightful talk on ‘Scientific Dating of Ancient Events from 2000 to 7000 BC. She argued that scientifically it is possible to ascertain the exact dates of events which are mentioned in Vedas, epics and other ancient books.

July 04, 2012 Event Report

Amarnath Yatra: Occasion to Revisit the Indian Institution of Tirtha

Dr Anirban Ganguly

Pilgrimage – tirtha – is a unique Indian civilisational institution that has fascinated and propelled people over the ages. The current issue of further curtailing the period of pilgrimage to the sacred shrine of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir is an occasion to revisit this institution of pilgrimage and to see it within the Indian spiritual, cultural and civilisational framework.

June 19, 2012 Paper

The Study of Ancient India: Erroneous Perceptions and the Reality - A Talk by Dr. Dilip K Chakrabarti

In his talk, delivered at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on August 31, 2011, Dr. Dilip K Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus of South Asian Archaeology, Cambridge University made out a strong case for presenting the history of ancient India in an unbiased manner. The talk, interspersed with powerful arguments, succinctly underscored the colonialist bias from which the study of ancient India suffers even today. It is rather unfortunate that historians in independent India, who have striven to put the records straight, have been labeled either as ‘Hindu revivalists’ or ‘communalists’.

September 08, 2011 Event Report