Dr. Nanditha Krishna is a historian, environmentalist and author based in Chennai. She has a PhD in Ancient Indian Culture from Bombay University. She is currently President of the CP Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and Founder of its many constituents, including CP Art Centre and CPR Institute of Indological Research (affiliated to the University of Madras) and several educational institutions. She has been a Professor and a Research Guide for the PhD degree of the University of Madras and received a D Litt (honoris causa) from Vidyasagar University, West Bengal.

In 2001, she established the Shakunthala Jagannathan Museum of Folk Art at Kanchipuram. She was responsible for the revival of the painting traditions of the Kurumba tribes and pottery traditions of Kota women. She has restored the Varahishwara Temple in Damal and a 450-year-old building in Kanchipuram. She has been documenting India’s ecological heritage traditions; revived traditional drawing and painting in Mamallapuram; and Tamil folk art forms in schools. In 1990, she was deputed to the Archaeological Survey of India’s restoration of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. She has researched the Khmer temples and reported on the restoration process.

She is the author of several books including Life Lessons from Mahavira; Life Lessons from Adi Shankara (Aleph); The Book of Avatars and Divinities, The Book of Demons, Hinduism and Nature, Sacred Plants of India, and Sacred Animals of India (Penguin); Paintings of the Varadaraja Perumal Temple (CPR Publications); Madras Then, Chennai Now (Roli); Book of Vishnu and Balaji Venkateshwara and Ganesha (Vakils);  Painted Manuscripts of the Sarasvati  Mahal Library (Govt. of Tamilnadu); Mahabalipuram: The Ganga Comes to Tamil Nadu and The Arts and Crafts of Tamilnadu (Mapin); and The Art and Iconography of Vishnu-Narayana (Taraporevala), among others, besides several research papers and popular articles.

She is the winner of several awards including Nari Shakti Puraskar, Stree Ratna and Outstanding Woman of Asia.

Abstract of the lectures

The wisdom of ancient India recognized the importance of nature and natural resources. The Vedas and later literature are dedicated to various forces of nature. Every aspect of the environment was regarded as sacred — plants, animals, mountains, forests, rivers, water bodies and even entire cities. By deeming them sacred, they were automatically protected. The Supreme Being pervades all creation. Krishna says, “I am the earth, I am the water, I am the air.” Shanti Mantras are recited at the beginning and end of every Hindu ritual to calm the environment. Dharma or righteousness is the basis of all the religions of Indian origin. Environmental protection is a dharma. Nature is revered as a mother, obeyed as a father and nurtured as a beloved child. Nature was the reflection of Gods essence rooted in the transcendental Creator and existence is the reflection of His divine qualities. The Sacred Ecology was common to all Indian cultures and there is no part of India which was untouched by it.

The ideal of the sacred ecology lives on to this day and is expressed in the form of sacred groves or forests which may not be destroyed, sacred animals which may not be killed, sacred plants that may not be harmed, sacred rivers which give life, sacred mountains that inspire awe and reverence, and so on. Unfortunately, with the advent of Western science and technology, the traditional sacred ecology of India has given way to a new society where the importance of nature is subsumed by the demand for development and the growing consumerism. As we are threatened by problems like global warming and climate change, it behoves us to recapture those traditions which protected the environment through several millennia.

Reading

Nanditha Krishna, “Saving the Environment in the Light of Ancient Indian Thought” (to be published)