51²è¹Ý

Dear All,

The Department of Visual Arts is delighted to invite you to the fifth colloquium in the Visual Arts Colloquium Series, Spring 2026.

Title: The Artists of Ä€lampur: Identifying Individuals, Processes, and Interventions

Speaker: Dr. Ajeya Vajpayee, Visiting Faculty, Visual Arts & Fellow, CIAR, 51²è¹Ý

Date: Friday, 10th April, 2026

Time: 1:30 PM

Venue: Visual Art Studio (near sports block)

Abstract: This talk will discuss the artists of Ä€lampur through labels, visuals, and mason marks found on various architectural members of the temples and related structures standing within a small, ruined fortress overlooking the western bank of river Tungabhadra in Telangana. The site yields a handful of etchings that identify artists, their epithets, and crafts from the early seventh to the mid-14th centuries CE. These provide insights into authorship and rivalry, practices that were not-so-prevalent in earlier periods and became increasingly apparent as the number of inscriptions claiming definite authorship increased in later periods. In the absence of labels, the visuals and mason marks offer significant insights into creative processes, regional interactions, localisation of motifs, possible migrations, and a peek into the artists’ sensibilities, who used their works to assert and negotiate their agency. Collectively, the labels, visuals, and their absence counter the earlier historiographical notion about the anonymity of early artists.

Keywords: Artists, Ālampur, Early Western Calukyas, Temple Architecture, Visual Culture

Speaker's Bio: Ajeya is a visiting faculty in the Department of Visual Arts, 51²è¹Ý. She is also a Fellow at the CIAR, 51²è¹Ý, where her research–an extension of her PhD on the Ä€lampur temples–examines the shared visuality and networks between the early shrines of Ä€lampur and the Mahanandi basin in Chhattisgarh. Her research interests lie in the art historical traditions of India and South Asia.  

We encourage interested faculty and students to join us.

Warm regards,

Visual Arts Department