K. N. Sitaram
Encyclopedia
K. N. Sitaram was the first India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n to head the famous Central Museum, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. He was successor to John Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

. His contribution to Indian history
History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...

, arts were outstanding. He had a vast personal collection of Indian arts and artifacts which he donated entirely to Central Museum, Lahore. He has travelled far and wide and was also instrumental in re-indexing the artifacts at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

, London. He also claimed to know 21 languages.

He was conferred the title of Pandit since he was an authority in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

. He was a native of Ambasamudram
Ambasamudram
Ambasamudram is a taluk in Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The entire taluk had a population of 392,226 as of 2001, with 42.5% classified as rural. The taluk is named for the principal town with the same name...

, Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...

 District, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

 state of India.

During his educational tenure at Kings' College, Oxford, in early 1920s, where he did his Ph. D in History, Dr. Sitaram married an English lady Ms. Ethel. They had a son named Mr. Krishna Sitaram born in May 1925.

Growing differences between Ethel and Sitaram had them divorced, though Krishnan Sitaram continued his correspondence with Dr. Sitaram until he expired in September 1940. By which time, Dr. Sitaram had married the daughter of the eldest son of Zamorin of Calicut, Kerala. He had two sons by this marriage, Ramachandran and Chandrashekar.

Dr.K.N.Sitaram had strong belief in Indo-Iranian ties right from Vedic times. His article 'Iranian Influence on Indian Culture' has been published by the prestigious journal of K.R.Cama Oriental Institute in 1923. Here he refers to various passages and quotes from Vedas, the 18 Puranas and Zed Avesta about the similarities in names, places and rituals which were nearly similar to each other before the Indians designed their own systems of worship and rituals. He created his own school that Pallavas of Tamil Nadu were originally from Pahlavis of Iran.

He has also brought out a book The Zoroastrian Magi in the Bhavishya Purana published by the Zoroastrial Historical Conference Committee. Two other articles by Dr.K.N.Sitaram are 'Indian Art & English Friends' published in The Indian Review brought out by The Theosophical Society, Adayar in December 1925 and 'Dramatic Dance Representations in South India' published by Royal Asiatic Society in April 1922.

Manuscripts

21 Manuscripts of Dr.K.N.Sitaram are available both at the British Library, London and National Archives, Surrey. Interested readers can go through the below list of articles by Dr.K.N.Sitaram and obtain a copy from any of these places after paying the requisite fee.
  1. Typescript of "Studies in Indian Art" c1920-30
  2. Typescript of "Studies in Indian Art" Parts I and II "Introduction" c1920-30
  3. Typescript of "Studies in Indian Art" Part III " Indian Sculpture" c1920-30
  4. Typescript of "Studies in Indian Art" Part IV "Indian Dancing" c1920-30
  5. Typescript of "Studies in Indian Art" Part V "Indian Architecture" c1920-30
  6. Typescript of "Indian Sculpture" c1920-30
  7. Typescript of "Indian Architecture" c1920-30
  8. Manuscript of "The Ramayana in Indian and Indonesian Art" c1920-35
  9. Typescript of "The Ramayana in Indian Art" c1920-35
  10. Typescript of "The Ramayana in Indonesian Art" c1920-35
  11. Typescript of "The Ramayana in Indian and Indonesian Art" c1920-35
  12. Manuscript of "Muslim Painting" c1920-35
  13. Typescript of "Muslim Painting" c1920-35
  14. Manuscript of "Islamic Contribution To Indian Art" c1920-35
  15. Typescript of "Islamic Contribution To Indian Art" c1920-35
  16. Typescript of "Social Life In The Age Of The Mauryas" c1920-35
  17. Manuscript of "The Antiquities Of The Kangra Valley" c1922
  18. Typescript of "The Antiquities Of The Kangra Valley" c1922
  19. Manuscript of a catalogue of the Amaravati sculptures in the British Museum c1935-36
  20. Notes on the acquisitions of the Central Museum, Lahore c1920-30
  21. Notes on the temples at Kidnapore c1920-30
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