MYSORE: The Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, as a part of its 125th anniversary, has announced 'Karnataka Purathathva Ratna Awards' to six archaeologists and epigraphists including former director of Archaeological Survey of India Dr M S Nagaraja Rao, in recognition of their services in archaeology over a decade's time.
The awardees are Dr SR Rao,a marine archaeologist, Prof Shrinivasa H Ritthi, an epigraphist, Prof A V Narasimha Murthy,a numismatist, Prof A Sundar, an archaeologist, Dr M S Nagaraja Rao, for his contributions in archaeology and Dr K V Ramesh, an epigraphist. The Award carries a cash prize of `1 lakh and a citation. It will be presented by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
The awardees
Prof S R Rao: A marine archaeologist, he was born in July 1, 1922 and has served as Superintendent in Archeological Survey of India and Director of Marine Archaeology in Goa.
Prof A V Narasimha Murthy: He is a numismatist and was born in May 15, 1935. He worked as professor in the department of Ancient History and Archaeology in University of Mysore.
Prof Shrinivasa H Ritthi:
He is an epigraphist and was born on March 8, 1929. He has worked in Archaeological Survey of India and as a professor in Karnataka University.
Prof A Sundar: An archaeologist, was born on January 6, 1933. He has worked in Department of Archaeology, Karnataka University.
Dr M S Nagaraja Rao: He was born on June 3, 1932 and studied in foreign countries and contributed a lot to archaeology in Karnataka. He served as Director of Archaeology and Museums for about 15 years.
Dr K V Ramesh: An epigraphist, was born in June 8, 1935. He is well versed in Sanskrit, Tamil, English, Hindi, Tulu, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu.