Book Chapters

Sacred architecture across cultures has often been aligned with celestial events such as solstices, equinoxes, and significant stellar risings. This study reviews global traditions of astronomical alignment and the techniques ancient builders may have used to achieve such precision, alongside contemporary methods including satellite imagery, field surveys, and astronomical simulations. Focusing on temple architecture in South India, it employs geospatial tools and simulation software to analyze orientations in relation to solar, lunar, and stellar phenomena.

Geospatial technologies have transformed cultural heritage research by enabling the analysis, visualization, and interpretation of historical landscapes. They support scholars in reconstructing past geographies, mapping site distributions, identifying hidden archaeological features, and informing heritage management strategies. Spatial Narratives of India’s Heritage: Geospatial Analysis in the Humanities showcases how GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis enrich multidisciplinary research on India’s past.

Mysorean rockets were an important technological innovation in eighteenth-century warfare, developed under the leadership of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. They were among the earliest iron-cased rockets used in battle and had a significant impact on military tactics of the time. This study examines the role of Mysorean rockets in eighteenth-century warfare under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, with a focus on their tactical deployment and innovative use in battles.

This chapter examines the structural remains of Srirangapatna Fort using geospatial technologies, comparing its condition from 1800 to 2021. By generating and georeferencing a high-resolution orthophoto derived from Major General Ross’s 1800 to-scale tabletop model, and integrating satellite imagery with field-based Ground Control Points, the study employs QGIS to identify, digitize, and map fort features. The analysis documents morphological changes resulting from historical events, particularly the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the 1799 siege.

Kutch, in western India, is a unique region described by Burnes and Dossal as “a land Without a Counterpart on the Globe” and is referenced in ancient texts and cartographic records. Continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, including a large number of Harappan civilisation settlements, it holds significant archaeological, historical, and maritime importance.

The shift from carbonaceous sources to cleaner alternatives necessitates reorienting and optimizing energy supply chains. Despite technological advancements, energy security remains susceptible to disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, resource constraints, and market fluctuations. This chapter explores how genetic simulations, leveraging metaheuristic optimization techniques, facilitate a trade-off between the resilience and cost-effectiveness of green hydrogen supply chains.

In this intensely personal chapter of the commemorative volume on the late Raja Ramanna, I reflect on the remarkable individual that Dr Ramanna was and as I saw him during our years together in NIAS, from 1996 till his passing in 2004.  I particularly celebrate his multifaceted personality, especially his relationships with the young faculty of the institute, his deep love for all living beings, and his inimitable sense of humour through which he saw the world.

Dr. Raja Ramanna, an internationally renowned nuclear physicist and founder and Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), had deep interests in Western classical music as well as in ancient Indian traditions.