Alvar

Institutions & Collectives Premodern Culture

A group of twelve Vaishnavite Tamil poet-saints who advocated for personal devotion (bhakti). Their poetry and devotional songs were based on themes and episodes from the life of Vishnu and his avatar Krishna. The contemporary compilation of these hymns is called Divya Prabandha.

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Sanskriti Award

An award administered by the Sanskriti Foundation since 1979 to honour the work of young Indians in the fields of…

The Otolith Group

The Otolith Group is an artist-led collective founded in 2002 by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun, which integrates moving image…

Photographic and Lithographic Office of the Survey of India

A department within the Survey of India that was responsible for making photographs and lithographic reproductions of major archaeological sites.…

Asiatic Society Of Bengal

An organisation in Kolkata, West Bengal, that holds a vast collection of old manuscripts from India. It was founded by…

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Bangladesh’s national cultural body, centred in Dhaka, with 64 district branches across the country. Its mission to promote Bangladeshi heritage…

National Litho Press, Sivakasi

Established in the 1920s by KSA Arunagiri Nadar, it was a commercial lithographic press based in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. Like…

Madrassa

An institution of higher learning in the Islamic thought. In its earliest form, it was an extension of mosques and…

Dutch East India Company

Founded in 1602, the United East India Company or Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie was a commercial organisation comprising several trading…