The University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) will be hosting the 7th International conference of the Society of South Asian Archaeology (SOSAA) from September 18-19.

 

 The inauguration ceremony and the presentation of the research papers from Sri Lanka will be held on September 18 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the USJ while the second part of the conference will be held on September 19, at the Postgraduate institute of Archaeology, Deccan College, India. The entire conference on September 18 and 19 will be streamed online via Zoom and other social media to facilitate the participation of scholars and other presenters around the South Asian region and other countries. 

With the theme being “ Save our heritage for our future”, the conference will be organised by SOSAA and the Department of History and Archaeology of USJ in collaboration with Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre of Indian High Commission Colombo and the Sri Lanka national commission for UNESCO. 

 

SOSAA was established in 2005 at Deccan College, Deemed University, Pune. India.Prof. Vasant Shinde from India is considered to be the founder of SOSAA. Prof. Sudershan Seneveratne from Sri Lanka and Prof. Ihsan Ali from Pakistan had been instrumental in forming SOSAA. The objective of  SOSAA is to promote scholarship and elevate South Asian Archaeology to the global level. According to  SOSAA, the conference brings archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and social scientists on to one platform to discuss common issues related to population movements, cultural interaction, trade exchange, the impact of climate on cultures, social formation etc. in South Asia. The conference also aims to establish a scholarly discourse in the field of archaeology and history spread across the region. This provides an opportunity for emerging scholars to exchange data, ideas and insights into recent discoveries made in the last couple of years in South Asia.

 

Thus far SOSAA has organised six international conferences; three in India, two in Iran and one in Sri Lanka. In 2010, the University of Kelaniya hosted the conference. The conveners of the event are Prof.Vasant Shinde, The president of SOSAA, Pune, India and Prof.Alexander Kapukotuwa of USJ the President of the 7th SOSAA conference and Dr. Rewant Vikram Singh, Director, SVCC High Commission of India, Sri Lanka.  The main organizing secretary is Prof.Gamini Ranasinghe of USJ. The conference will be chaired by the Guest of Honor Emeritus Prof.S.B.Hettiarachi while the keynote speaker will be Dr.S.U.Deraniyagala. A special address will be delivered by Prof.Vasant Shinde as well.

 

Speaking to Daily Mirror, Prof. Kapukotuwa said considering the pandemic situation in India and other parts of the world, the conference would be streamed online via Zoom although the scholars and presenters in Sri Lanka would be gathered in the USJ premises on September 18. “First we received research abstracts from many applicants and have given an opportunity to present them at the conference on September 18. This time we have received around 140 abstracts. According to the comments by the scholars and commentators around, 20 papers will be selected,” he added. He also said these selected papers would be published in a special volume of  the Vidyodaya Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Besides all 140 abstracts will be printed in one book and distributed via email among the scholars and participants of the conference.  According to Prof.Kapukotuwa, the provisional Broad Topics of the conferenced will be; 

 

Explaining the relevance and significance of the conference, Prof. Ranasinghe said, “There was a need for the whole South Asian region to bring all facts and data received through excavations and researches to one platform. 

There are many archaeological researches carried out in places like Rajagala, Anuradhapura, Sigiriya and other places of archaeological and historical significance.” He said SOSAA aimed to bring all the findings in the South Asian region to a single forum.  

 

He also noted that this forum is not prominently limited to the SA region itself, but has extended its reach to other countries where its archaeologists and historians have the opportunity to present their researches, new findings and opinions at SOSAA conference. This is possible if they contain a relevance to the field of history and archaeology. 

 

He said the conference would comprise three special sessions. “One of the special sessions will be on Rajagala archaeological research project which was conducted with the support of some universities in India,” he added. He said the choice of this session was prominently based on the fact that it was an archaeological site where the relics of Mihindu Thera had been found. “Therefore India has taken a lot of interest in developing this project as Mihindu Thera had been from India,” he emphasised. 

 

He noted that a proposal had been made to include the Rajagala archaeological site in the World Heritage Sites list. He said, “Another session will be on Rakhigarhi excavation project in India and third session will be the presentation of research papers produced in Sinhalese. We also try to promote the even via Zoom, Facebook and YouTube and provide an opportunity for many to participate in the conference online”. 

 

Since the conference is not confined to the region itself, SOSAA also calls for scholars in other countries to submit their research papers dealing with broader themes of archaeology and history in South Asia in upcoming conferences. The USJ warmly invites archaeologists, scientists, anthropologists and scholars working on the topics related to history, archaeology and anthropology of South Asia while providing an opportunity to young scholars to present their idea on an international platform.