Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Echoes of Ancient India
Sushma Jansari and Sureshkumar Muthukumaran in conversation with William Dalrymple
Historian and curator Sushma Jansari's latest book, Ancient India: Living Traditions, co-written with academic Sureshkumar Muthukumaran, takes us on a captivating journey back to the roots of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art, uncovering how ancient history shapes living traditions today. Through a masterful exploration of statues, paintings, and manuscripts, they highlight the rich tapestry of multi-faith connections. In conversation with Festival Co-Director and author William Dalrymple, Jansari and Muthukumaran explore the vital role of preserving history and the enduring power of art across generations.
Dr Sushma Jansari, curator, South Asia at the British Museum, curated the major new exhibition Ancient India: Living Traditions (May 2025 to Oct 2025) and co-authored the accompanying book with Dr Sureshkumar Muthukumaran. Jansair’s first book, Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India, was published in 2023, by the UCL Press.
Dr. Sureshkumar Muthukumaran is a lecturer in the History Department at the National University of Singapore. He is the author of The Tropical Turn: Agricultural Innovation in the Ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean and co-author of Ancient India: Living Traditions.
William Dalrymple is the author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, Duff Cooper Prize-winning The Last Mughal, and the Hemingway and Kapuscinski Prize-winning Return of a King. His book, The Anarchy, was shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington medal, the Tata Book of the Year, and the Historical Writers Association Award, and won the 2020 Arthur Ross Medal from the US Council on Foreign Relations. Dalrymple has held visiting lectureships at Princeton, Brown, and Oxford, where he is currently a Visiting Fellow at All Souls. His latest book is The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World. He was presented with the President’s Medal by the British Academy and was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers for 2020 by Prospect Magazine. He is a founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
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#ancienthistory #ancientindia #history #jlflondon
Echoes of Ancient India
Sushma Jansari and Sureshkumar Muthukumaran in conversation with William Dalrymple
Historian and curator Sushma Jansari's latest book, Ancient India: Living Traditions, co-written with academic Sureshkumar Muthukumaran, takes us on a captivating journey back to the roots of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art, uncovering how ancient history shapes living traditions today. Through a masterful exploration of statues, paintings, and manuscripts, they highlight the rich tapestry of multi-faith connections. In conversation with Festival Co-Director and author William Dalrymple, Jansari and Muthukumaran explore the vital role of preserving history and the enduring power of art across generations.
Dr Sushma Jansari, curator, South Asia at the British Museum, curated the major new exhibition Ancient India: Living Traditions (May 2025 to Oct 2025) and co-authored the accompanying book with Dr Sureshkumar Muthukumaran. Jansair’s first book, Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India, was published in 2023, by the UCL Press.
Dr. Sureshkumar Muthukumaran is a lecturer in the History Department at the National University of Singapore. He is the author of The Tropical Turn: Agricultural Innovation in the Ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean and co-author of Ancient India: Living Traditions.
William Dalrymple is the author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, Duff Cooper Prize-winning The Last Mughal, and the Hemingway and Kapuscinski Prize-winning Return of a King. His book, The Anarchy, was shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington medal, the Tata Book of the Year, and the Historical Writers Association Award, and won the 2020 Arthur Ross Medal from the US Council on Foreign Relations. Dalrymple has held visiting lectureships at Princeton, Brown, and Oxford, where he is currently a Visiting Fellow at All Souls. His latest book is The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World. He was presented with the President’s Medal by the British Academy and was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers for 2020 by Prospect Magazine. He is a founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#ancienthistory #ancientindia #history #jlflondon
