BrittnyFiorillo at 18:25, 7 April 2026

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1910
| birth_place = [[Tiruchirappalli]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| death_date = 30 November 1992
| death_place = Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = [[Archeologist]], historian
| yearsactive =
| known_for = archeological work and writings on the [[Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram]]
| awards = {{ublist|1991 [[Padma Bhushan]]}}
}}
'''Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan''' (1910 – 30 November 1992) was an Indian archeologist, historian and the author of a number of books on Indian history and culture. He was best known for his archeological work on the [[Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram]]. The [[Government of India]] awarded him the [[Padma Bhushan]], the third highest civilian award, in 1991.

==Biography==
[[File:India - Mamallapuram - 022 - Cave pillars (4333675697).jpg|thumb|India - Mamallapuram - 022 - Cave pillars (4333675697)]]
K. R. Srinivasan was born in 1910 at [[Tiruchirapalli]], a temple town in the south Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="The man who put Mahabs on the map">{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/The-man-who-put-Mahabs-on-the-map/articleshow/9427785.cms |title=The man who put Mahabs on the map |date=31 July 2011 |work=The Times of India |access-date=2018-06-05}}</ref> Choosing botany as subject, he secured an MSc from the [[University of Madras]] after completing the course at [[Presidency College, Chennai]] and started his career at [[St. Joseph's College, Trichy]] as a lecturer of botany. His elder brother, K. R. Venkataraman, was a noted historian and the elder brother's work on [[Pudukottai]] was reported to have inspired Srinivasan to take up archaeology. In 1936, he joined Pudukottai museum as its curator.<ref name="Remembering K R Srinivasan, Archaeologist who put Mahabalipuram on the map">{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiapromise.com/2011/07/k-r-srinivasan-archaeologist.html |title=Remembering K R Srinivasan, Archaeologist who put Mahabalipuram on the map |date=2018-06-05 |website=India Promise |access-date=2018-06-05}}</ref> Later, when the museum was taken up by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] and renamed as the [[Government Museum, Pudukkottai]], he continued there until his official retirement from service in 1968 as its deputy director general.<ref name="The man who put Mahabs on the map" />

During his service, Srinivasan undertook several archaeological missions in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] of which the most notable one was his work on the [[Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram]].<ref name="The man who put Mahabs on the map" /> He documented the temples from [[Pallava dynasty|Pallava period]] and published a book, the ''Temples of South India'' which has since been translated into [[Hindi language|Hindi]]<ref name="Srinivasan1996">{{cite book|author=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=Dakshin Bharat Ke Mandir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGPvAAAACAAJ|year=1996|publisher=National Book Trust|isbn=978-81-237-1867-5}}</ref> and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] languages<ref name="Ten̲n̲intiyak kōyilkaḷ">{{Cite book |title=Ten̲n̲intiyak kōyilkaḷ |last=Srinivasan|first=K.R. |publisher=National Book Trust |year=2011 |isbn=978-8123716404 |location=Pututilli |oclc=298380779}}</ref> and is a prescribed text for academic studies.<ref name="Srinivasan1985">{{cite book|author=K. R. Srinivasan|title=Temples of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94A3tQEACAAJ|year=1985|publisher=National Book Trust|isbn=978-81-237-0487-6}}</ref> He also published another book, the ''Cave-temples of the Pallavas'' based on his work in [[Mahabalipuram]].<ref name="Cave-temples of the Pallavas">{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102026971 |title=Cave-temples of the Pallavas |last=Srinivasan |first=K. R. |date=1964 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |series=Architectural survey of templesno. 1 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> It was during this research, he discovered a hidden passage in one of the temples leading to a series of carvings depicting 81 [[Karana (dance)|karanas]].<ref name="How karana sculptures in Big Temple were discovered">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/How-karana-sculptures-in-Big-Temple-were-discovered/article16044743.ece |title=How karana sculptures in Big Temple were discovered |last=Subramanian |first=T. S. |date=2010-09-23 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2018-06-05 |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Later, he studied the [[Borobudur#Buddha statues|Buddha statues]] at [[Borobudur]] and his studies of [[Buddha]] were also documented as a book, ''The Story of Buddha''; this book is a part of [[secondary school]] curriculum in Tamil Nadu.<ref name="The Story of Buddha">{{Cite book |title=The Story of Buddha |last=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan |publisher=E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone}}</ref> ''The Harappan and the Vedic Cultures''<ref name="Srinivasan1988">{{cite book|author=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=The Harappan and the Vedic Cultures: Musings on Some Moot Problems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3lDAAAAYAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Director of Museums, Government Museum}}</ref> and ''The Age of Vidyaranya'' were two of his other books.<ref name="VenkataramanIyer1976">{{cite book|author1=K. R.. Venkataraman|author2=M. K.. Venkatarama Iyer|author3=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=The Age of Vidyaranya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbHJSAAACAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Kalpa Printers and Publishers}}</ref>

Srinivasan guided [[Padma Subrahmanyam]], a noted Indian [[Bharatanatyam]] dancer, in her doctoral studies on the karanas.<ref name="The man who put Mahabs on the map" /><ref name="How karana sculptures in Big Temple were discovered" /> After retirement, he moved back to his native place, Trichy, and it was here he died in 1992, at the age of 82.<ref name="Profile on WorldCat">{{Cite web |url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n84103767/ |title=Profile on WorldCat |date=2018-06-04 |website=WorldCat |access-date=2018-06-04}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
Srinivasan was honored by the Government of India with the [[Padma Bhushan]], the third highest civilian award in 1991, a year before his death.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{Cite web |url=http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/ |title=Padma Awards |date=2018-05-17 |website=Padma Awards |publisher=Government of India |access-date=2018-05-17 |archive-date=15 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015000149/http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> His birth centenary was observed in 2011 by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], as a mark of honor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/kr-srinivasan-was-a-multifaceted-personality/article2312073.ece |title=K.R. Srinivasan was a multifaceted personality |date=2011-08-01 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2018-06-05 |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> On the occasion, a [[festschrift]] was also released under the title, ''Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art and culture : birth centenary volume of Padma Bushan Dr. C. Sivaramamurti and Padma Bushan Sh. K.R. Srinivasan''.<ref name="Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art & culture : birth centenary volume of Padma Bushan Dr. C. Sivaramamurti and Padma Bushan Sh. K.R. Srinivasan / editor, D. Dayalan. - Princeton University Library Catalog">{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/7291274 |title=Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art & culture : birth centenary volume of Padma Bushan Dr. C. Sivaramamurti and Padma Bushan Sh. K.R. Srinivasan / editor, D. Dayalan. - Princeton University Library Catalog |website=catalog.princeton.edu |isbn=9788173201332 |language=en |access-date=2018-06-05|last1=Dayalan |first1=D. |year=2013 |publisher=Agam Kala Prakashan }}</ref><ref name="Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art & culture">{{Cite web |url=http://www-lib.tufs.ac.jp/opac/en/recordID/catalog.bib/BB13154802?hit=-1&caller=xc-search |title=Sivasri : perspectives in Indian archaeology, art & culture : birth centenary volume of Padma Bushan Dr. C. Sivaramamurti and Padma Bushan Sh. K.R. Srinivasan |last=Dayalan |first=editor, D. |website=東京外国語大学附属図書館ＯＰＡＣ |access-date=2018-06-05}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |title=Cave-temples of the Pallavas |last=Srinivasan |first=K. R. |date=1964 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |series=Architectural survey of temples no. 1 |location=New Delhi}}
* {{cite book|author1=K. R.. Venkataraman|author2=M. K.. Venkatarama Iyer|author3=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=The Age of Vidyaranya|year=1976|publisher=Kalpa Printers and Publishers}}
* {{cite book|author=K. R. Srinivasan|title=Temples of South India|year=1985|publisher=National Book Trust|isbn=978-81-237-0487-6}}
* {{cite book|author=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=The Harappan and the Vedic Cultures: Musings on Some Moot Problems|year=1988|publisher=Director of Museums, Government Museum}}
* {{cite book|author=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan|title=Dakshin Bharat Ke Mandir|year=1996|publisher=National Book Trust|isbn=978-81-237-1867-5}}
* {{Cite book |title=Ten̲n̲intiyak kōyilkaḷ |last=R. |first=Srinivasan, K. |publisher=National Book Trust |year=2011 |isbn=978-8123716404 |location=Pututilli |oclc=298380779}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Story of Buddha |last=Kuthur Ramakrishna Srinivasan |publisher=E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone}}

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram]]
* [[Unfinished Buddha]]
{{div col end}}
{{Portal|India|History}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gazette.e.1991.53 |title=Extraordinary Gazette of India, 1991, No. 53 |last=Directorate of Printing |first=Government of India |date=1991-03-24 |access-date=2018-06-05}}

{{Authority control}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1990–1999}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Srinivasan, Kuthur Ramakrishnan}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Scholars from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian archaeologists]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Archaeological Survey of India people]]
[[Category:People from Tiruchirappalli]]

Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan - Revision history

BrittnyFiorillo at 18:25, 7 April 2026