Bhopal (Madhy Pradesh): "I feel honoured to have been selected for the same award my guru and well-known archaeologist VS Wakankar received it half a century ago. This was stated by archaeologist Narayan Vyas who has been selected for Padma Shri award this year. “This is in keeping with the ancient Indian guru-shishya parampara,” he told Free Press.
About his lifelong association with Wakankar who discovered Bhimbetka rock shelters - a UNESCO World Heritage site in Raisen district - Vyas said that he worked as Wakankar’s assistant during excavations at Bhimbetka in 1972. Wakankar, a professor at Vikram University, Ujjain, had taught Vyas when he was pursuing postgraduation in archaeology from the university.
“Wakankarji first saw Bhimbetka rocks from Obaidullaganj railway station while he was travelling on a train from Bhopal to Nagpur. He was so mesmerised that he got down at Berkhera, the next railway station, and after staying there for the night, marched on foot to the hills only to find rock shelters dating back to the stone age. That was on March 23,1957,” Vyas said.
After completing MA and obtaining postgraduate diploma in archaeology conducted by Archaeological Survey of India in New Delhi, he returned to Ujjain. I was unemployed and Wakankar ji asked me to work as his assistant for excavations at Bhimbetka,” he said.
