Angkor Wat of Cambodia

Largest (Hindu-Buddhist) Temple Complex in the World

Travelogue 31

“One of these temples, a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo, might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.”

Alexandre Henri Mouhot

French Naturalist and Explorer, 1860

Aerial View of Angkor Wat

(Photo: Peter Garnhum, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Overview

All over the world, religious monuments take pride of place.  Indeed, most of the greatest monuments in the ancient world are also religious monuments.  Here are some of them that I have visited (in no particular order): Prambanan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey; The Brihadeeshwara Temple, Thanjavur, India; The Kailasanatha Temple, Ellora, India; Christ the Redeemer Statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Srirangam Temple, Tiruchirapalli, India; Meenakshi Temple, Madurai, India, Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Japan; The Luxor Temple, Luxor, Egypt. 

But the largest and best of these, though not in terms of quality of preservation, is Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the subject of this article. It is in fact the largest religious monument in the whole world, a not too well-known fact because of its poor quality of preservation as also because of its location, in one of the poorest countries in the world, ruled for long by oppressive and totalitarian regimes.

Angkor Wat, literally meaning ‘city temple’, was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II (see picture of bas relief below) in the twelfth century and dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu.  Its original name is not known definitively, but could have been the Sanskrit name Vrah Visnuloka or Parama Visnuloka. Khmer is an ancient kingdom in Southeast Asia that reached the peak of its power in the 11th century, when it ruled over the whole of the Mekong valley from its capital at Angkor.  It was representative of how far Indosphere had reached southeast Asia. Both Sanskrit and Pali were influential languages as in other southeast Asian countries.

Today, Angkor Wat has become such an important symbol for Cambodia that the nation’s flag has its silhouette emblazoned on it.  Tourism is a major source of income for the country, accounting for about 12% of its GDP. Before the Covid 19 setback, Cambodia saw an annual tourist inflow of around 6.6 million, most of them also visiting Angkor Wat. 

Spread over a huge area of 402 acres (see aerial view above), Angkor Wat is the amalgamation of two basic design features of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain at the heart and a galleried outer structure around it. It is designed to represent the exalted Mount Meru, home of the devas (gods) in Hindu mythology. Within a moat more than 5 kilometres long and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long (see picture below) are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre stands a quincunx (an arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre) of towers as can be seen in the previous aerial picture.

According to ancient Sanskrit and Khmer texts, religious monuments must be organized in such a way that they are in harmony with the universe, meaning that the structure should be planned to accord with the rising sun and moon, in addition to symbolizing the recurrent sequences of days, months and years. Angkor Wat seems to embody this requirement.

The building of Angkor Wat appears to have involved about 300,000 workers, including architects, construction workers, masons, sculptors and support workers. Construction of the complex took over 30 years and was never really completed in all respects. It was nearly as demanding an endeavour as the building of the Egyptian Pyramids.  Remarkably, the temple is built entirely out of sandstone fetched from quite some distance.  Almost every surface is intricately engraved with narrative or decorative details, illustrating tales from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as also scenes featuring animals like unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots, as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader, and celestial dancing girls (apsaras) with elaborate hairstyles and ornaments. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost one thousand square meters of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. 

The picture below is a depiction of a battle scene in Lanka:

The Journey

Although I had a general idea, the first time I heard about the greatness of Angkor Wat was from my esteemed friend and colleague Dr C Seshadri who recounted some highlights of his visit to Angkor Wat and urged me to do so as well.  It was many years later that I could do so, as part of an extended trip that included Cambodia and Thailand.

I reached Siem Reap, the second largest city in Cambodia and the location of many of its greatest archaeological treasures, by a flight via Singapore, on 9 Mar 2018. The airport was small (see picture below), one of the smallest I have experienced anywhere, and visa could be obtained on arrival.  I didn’t have to wait too long to get it.

Though taxis were available, I chose to get into a tuk-tuk, the Thai and Cambodian equivalent of the auto-ricksha, also very familiar on Indian roads. Though motorised, it is driven quite slowly everywhere, with the driver sitting as on a cycle ricksha.  He drove me at a leisurely pace through a highway with light traffic and dropped me off at the impressive hotel pictured below where I had taken out an online reservation. It was located on the main thoroughfare, with many such hotels serving the needs of foreign tourists.

The visit

The hotel manager readily fixed up a full day tour of Angkor Wat and neighbouring attractions with a tuk-tuk driver at a reasonable price, but payable only in US$, something that was the norm where tourists were concerned because, as I discovered later, the Cambodian currency was virtually worthless.  The driver could understand simple English and made himself understood quite well mainly through monosyllables supported by sign language.  Our first halt was at the ticket centre at the outskirts of the city where I had to show my passport and purchase a full day ticket, again paying in US$. Here is a picture of the beautiful building where this was done:

Then the tuk-tuk started on a fairly long journey to the huge temple complex.  Here is the picture I shot from inside as he was driving past one side of the long moat around Angkor Wat, in such serene surroundings that I felt it was indeed a shame I was not walking instead of riding in undue comfort. 

Soon, the vehicle reached the large parking area far in front of the main entrance to the temple complex, quite early in the morning, and we were early arrivals too.  The driver thoughtfully advised me to take a picture of his vehicle so that I would be able to locate it easily on my return from the visit. I did better than that, capturing the picture (see below) along with him standing right next to it, quite an impressive figure!

As I looked around, I could see the majestic Angkor Wat far away, silhouetted against the early morning eastern sky (see picture below).  The entire quincunx of towers could be seen at one glance.  It was indeed a spectacular sight, though the details of the structure were missing because of the backlighting. 

Entry to the interior of the complex was through a long causeway across the water filled moat as can be seen in the picture below, which shows a long line of visitors far away, crossing over to the other side.

Restoration

Angkor Wat and other ancient structures in Cambodia have suffered extensive damage and deterioration by a combination of plant overgrowth, fungal attacks, advancing forest, ground movements, vandalism, and theft, as is often the case with ancient artifacts (Egyptian ones came particularly to my mind, after having visited that country two years previously).  Restoration has received major attention and there have been extensive efforts initiated by other countries such as France and India, besides an international initiative spearheaded by UNESCO. One example of this was immediately apparent at the western entrance through the causeway.  It is a beautifully restored head of a naga (mythical half-serpent half-human being) as can be seen in the picture below. It stands in sharp contrast to the unrestored lion right next to it.

A Major Restoration Project

The poster below, displayed prominently at the long ‘churning of the sea of milk’ (samudra manthana in Sanskrit) gallery pictured in the next photograph, describes a major project undertaken at one of the inner courtyards of Angkor Wat.

The celebrated ‘churning of the sea of milk’ gallery (see pictures below) is one of four such long galleries adorning the four sides of Angor Wat, each about 50 m long. It is the eastern gallery, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (seen at the centre of the second picture, which is of a small segment of the previous one). In its symbolism, it depicts a fascinating story about the beginning of time and the creation of the universe. It is also a story about the victory of good over evil, of devas over the asuras.

Inner Courtyard

After spending a considerable amount of time at the outer parts of Angkor Wat, I moved to the inner courtyard from the eastern side, with scattered sunlight still providing a good view.  Here is a picture of the layer on which the quincunx of towers is located, with the two end towers visible.  A wooden staircase provides part of the way up, though it spoils the overall view of the otherwise distinctly ancient architecture. 

Below is another part of the now crowded courtyard, with a longer way up the wooden staircases. 

Below is a close-up view, looking steeply upward, of one of the four corner towers: 

To go up to the very top of the grand central tower, I had to first stand in a long line of people waiting for their turn to climb up a steep staircase as can be seen from the picture below:

Climb to the top

Pictured below is a polite and thoughtful way of reminding one of the amount of time one had to spend in the normally crowded line to reach an intermediate platform on the way up to the top.  Rather ingeniously, the placement of the guideposts could be changed depending on the density of people queued up in the line!

Right in front of me in the line was a young lady from Viet Nam who caught my attention through her fluent English, and she became equally pleased with my way of speaking.  Initially, she was mildly offended when I remarked that she looked like Chinese, but any cobwebs between us were swept away quickly through mutual candour.  Indeed, we stuck up a very friendly conversation, talking about our experiences in Cambodia till then, about her life in Hanoi, about the remarkable recovery and economic progress Viet Nam had achieved after its wars in the last century, and generally about the travel experiences of each of us as tourists in recent times. What a shame I didn’t capture a selfie with her, something that could have been so appropriately posted here.  Forty-five minutes didn’t feel like too long a time to have spent talking to her! 

When I went up to the top layer on which the central tower stood, my attention was diverted by what appeared to me like a setting Sun near the western horizon (see at the top right of the picture below). I was rather taken aback since it was just about noon time then.  When I looked at the object through my camera under full zoom, it revealed itself as just a hot air balloon, a close-up picture of which appears later. Incidentally, this picture shows the western gate to the vast inner courtyard, the outer one lying much farther away.

The following picture shows the much less crowded and comfortable return staircase, against the background of the central tower, after the visit to the top. 

Sideshow

Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu (Vishnu) temple when Hinduism was the dominant religion everywhere within the Indosphere, influenced by great classics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha. It was only later, after Buddhism took over as the dominant religion, that it was slowly transformed into a Buddhist temple, even as it came under the ravages of time coupled with sheer neglect.  Buddhist religious practices were evident in some parts of Angkor Wat, though on a modest scale.  More in evidence was some sideshows of a cultural nature designed to entertain visitors as well as to lighten their purses.  Here is a picture at the end of one such sideshow, a short dance performance in full costume:

Apsaras

Carvings of beautiful Apsaras (loosely translated as heavenly maidens), who have a major presence in ancient Indian mythologies, in widely differing costumes and sizes constitute the most visible part of the bas reliefs seen almost everywhere on the walls in Angkor Wat.  Below are two prominent ones: 

Exit

As I traced my reluctant journey back to where I had started early that morning, with the Sun now nearly overhead, I took a head-on look at the famous temple complex (see picture below, with the eastern side towers well hidden behind the visible western side towers) from close quarters and in finer detail this time, again marvelling at what was surely one of the greatest monuments of any kind anywhere, certainly the greatest of the religious variety.

 

As I moved out towards the western outer entrance, I could now see clearly the hot air balloon, much closer and clearer this time (see picture below). It appeared to be a tethered device, floating still, without any noticeable movement in any direction. 

After exiting the outer gate, I had to walk back on the causeway, and this time I captured a good close-up view of it (see below). 

It was a long walk back to the parking area and to my tuk-tuk whose driver anticipated my arrival and was ready to take me to the next stop on the day’s journeys.

Later that evening, on my way back to the hotel, I passed by a beautiful building (see below) housing the National Museum of ancient artifacts of Angkor Wat and other historical sites of the city.  Unfortunately, it was closed for the day and I had no further time at my disposal while I was in Siem Reap. 

A sad tid-bit

In 2007, Angkor Wat was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, but sadly did not make it to the seven winning sites which turned out to be: The Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China, Machu Pichu in Peru, Petra in Jordan, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico.  In my view, Angkor Wat definitely deserved to be one of the final seven. Incidentally, I have been able to visit all but the last one of these.  I hope to make up for the shortfall sometime next year.

Adieu Angkor Wat

Thanks to timely interventions by the UNESCO, and independent initiatives by many nations, Angkor Wat seems to be on its way out of the endangered list of heritage sites the world over.  I left the place with some sense of relief as well as a great sense of wonder at how far and how deep the influence of greater India in ancient times had penetrated.

As I write this, I look back upon an experience just last year, of viewing the remains of a small but beautiful Vishnu temple, perhaps matching Angkor Wat in its splendour, though nowhere near it in scale, at Awantipora, on the banks of river Jhelum near Srinagar in Kashmir.  It is with immense sadness that I sign off this narrative with a picture of this edifice that has been one of the countless victims of intolerance and hatred down the ages in human history.  The ruins are now well protected and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, with an armed guard in constant attendance! 

  

 

 

 

 

 Khagola Darshana

 (ಖಗೋಳ ದರ್ಶನ)

Advent of a Kannada Compendium on Astronomy

and allied disciplines

 

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.”

 - Carl Sagan (Cosmos)

 

The Publication

For a variety of reasons, the availability of good reference books in Kannada (and most other Indian languages) on science subjects such as Astronomy, and related disciplines like Astrophysics and Cosmology, is rare.  This is one reason why the popularity of such subjects is not comparable to their importance in mainstream scientific studies and research.  With a view to bridging this gap, Navakarnataka Publishers, Bangalore, have come out with an impressive compendium titled Khagola Darshana, edited by Dr B S Shylaja and Dr T R Anantha Ramu, both scientists and renowned popular science writers in Kannada, with contributions from about thirty other scientists, science educators and teachers.  The profusely illustrated 472-page volume printed on A4 size double-column large font high quality art paper was formally released in a superbly organized and well-attended function on 29 July 23 at Bangalore, chaired by Dr A S Kiran Kumar, former chairman of ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization. Most of the contributors, including this writer, were also present. Here is a group photo of the participants taken after the function:

Presented in 35 chapters, large and small, the larger ones divided into subsections, together with a few appendices, this work covers a wide-ranging number of topics, including the basics of astronomy and astrophysics, elements of cosmology, earth and planetary studies, observational astronomy, historical aspects, exploration in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, space travel, etc., with adequate emphasis on Indian contributions to ancient astronomy, key Indian contributions and active institutions.  Dr Shylaja, apart from her key editorial responsibility, has also authored or co-authored quite a number of chapters. Some of the articles have been translated from their original English sources, including chapter 33 contributed by me.

The Content

The following is a chapter-wise list of the major topics and appendices presented in the compendium:

1. Earth science and astronomy, with their historical and sociological connections, motions of planets and other celestial objects, observational astronomy, ancient Indian astronomy, and the application of Newtonian mechanics.
2. A review of the basics of physics, gravitation, electromagnetic radiation and stellar spectra, application of Doppler principle, principles of relativity.
3. Naked eye wonders of the night sky, the night sky with binoculars, the use of telescopes and the formation of images through them.
4. The Earth, its chemical composition, magnetism, interaction with solar radiation.
5. Basic Geophysics, age of the earth, oceans, plate tectonics, continental drift, evolution of life, etc.
6. The Moon – the first step to the stars, phases, lunar eclipses, tides, exploration of the moon, Chandrayaan.
7. The Sun – a natural laboratory, solar energy, nuclear fusion, solar eclipses, the internal structure of the sun, sunspots, solar activity, solar telescopes and space probes.
8. Planet Mercury, properties, its magnetosphere, precession of perihelion, detailed exploration, precession of perihelion, general relativity.
9. Venus, orbital characteristics, transit, atmosphere, exploration.
10. The Red planet Mars, motion, surface features, properties, exploration, water.
11. The Giant Jupiter, Galileo’s observations, Galilean satellites, composition, radio emissions, exploration.
12. The Ringed Saturn, structure of the ring system, satellites, exploration.
13. Uranus, rings, axis of rotation, exploration, JWST image, satellites.
14. The Blue planet Neptune, structure, composition, structure, satellites, rings.
15. Minor planets, nomenclature, types of orbits, origin, properties, exploration, Kuiper belt objects.
16. Comets – guests from outer space, tails and their types, orbits, nomenclature, composition, the cometary zoo, exploration, famous comets.
17. The Solar system, our family, origin, structure.
18. Planetariums, bringing the stars down to earth, projection systems, different types, mobile planetariums, LED domes.
19. Stars, brightness scale, distances, colors, temperatures, spectra, sizes, magnetospheres, birth of stars, white dwarfs, eclipsing binaries, spectral classes, life cycle of stars, neutron stars, black holes, supernovae and their types.
20. Are we alone in the Universe? Astrobiology, Dyson sphere, origin of life, extraterrestrial life, Drake equation, search for extraterrestrial intelligence, different techniques.
21. X-ray astronomy, some milestones, pulsars.
22. High energy astrophysics, gamma ray astronomy, Cherenkov radiation astronomy, neutrino astronomy, solar neutrinos.
23. Infrared astronomy, James Webb Telescope.
24. Radio Astronomy, Radio telescopes, arrays, Very Large Array.
25. Our Milky Way, galactic properties, rotation, dark matter, nebulae.
26. Interstellar matter, composition, hydrogen and helium, emission nebulae.
27. Island universes, red shifts, galactic structure, Hubble constant, types of galaxies, galactic clusters.
28. Black holes, properties, blackholes at the galactic center, evidence for blackholes, direct imaging, gamma ray bursts.
29. Universe, super clusters of galaxies, Sloan digital survey.
30. Mathematics and Universe, famous astrophysicists.
31. Gravitational Collapse, curvature of space, space-time singularity, Swarzschild sphere.
32. Gravitational waves, LIGO detectors, Gravitational astronomy.
33. Dark Energy, Einstein’s blunder, CMB Radiation, big bang expansion, role of supernovae, normal and dark matter, dark energy, Hubble constant anomaly, accelerated expansion and ultimate fate of the universe.
34. Reflections on cosmology, Einstein’s world, curvature of spacetime, end of the universe, murmurs of the past.
35. Well, being of astronauts, safety and healthy, launch and reentry, microgravity, degenerative diseases, food and sleep, isolation, medical issues, etc.

References, internet resources, further reading.
A1: Names of constellations, night sky charts.
A2: The brightest stars.
A3: Visual binaries.
A4: Fault lines on the globe.
A5: Historical Supernovas.
A5: Nearest stars.
A6: Flowchart of knowledge.
A7: Observatories in India.
A8: Locations of observatories in India.
Glossary of terms in Kannada with English equivalents.
Introductions to the contributors.

At the release ceremony, it was very thoughtful of the publishers to call and introduce each of the contributors/co-authors to the dais to receive her/his complimentary copy of the publication from the chief guest. The picture below captures this honor being done to me:

Some highlights

Reflecting the indigenous as well as novel nature of the publication, some of its distinctive features are:

• Flowery, often poetic, Kannada words/terms used throughout the text, especially as chapter headings, to enhance its appeal to lay readers. E.g.: ಅಂತರಿಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಹಂತ ಹಂತದ ಮೆಟ್ಟಿಲು (as subtitle of the book), ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳಿಗೊಂದು ವಿಳಾಸ, ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಇತಿಹಾಸ - ನಮ್ಮದೂ ಸೇರಿ, ಬರಿಗಣ್ಣು ಬಿಚ್ಚಿಡುವ ಬೆರಗು ನೊಟಗಳು, ಬುಧ ಚಿಕ್ಕದು ನೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕದು, ಕೆಂದೂಳಿನ ಅಂಗಳ – ಮಂಗಳ, ಸಣ್ಣ ಸದಸ್ಯರ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಮೂಹ, ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳು ಭೂಮಿಗೆ ಬಂದಿಳಿದಾಗ, ಹೋಗೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿರೋ ಹೊಸನಾಡಿಗೆ, ವಿಶ್ವವನ್ನೇ ಅಳಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಅಗೋಚರ ಶಕ್ತಿ.
• Popular and folklore related astronomical phenomena, like the names of stars and their associated proverbs, both refined and rustic, in Kannada:
  
  
  
• A sub-section (chapter 1.3) on the fascinating history of ancient Indian astronomy.
• A long chapter (2) by way of a revision of the basic principles of physics required for the rest of the book.
• A long chapter (5) devoted to geophysics whose relevance to astronomy and astrophysics is not always fully appreciated.                                                                                          
• A glossary of technical terms in Kannada with their English equivalents.
• Many superb pictures, especially from NASA sources, such as the ones relating to the James Webb Space Telescope on pp 334-55 and elsewhere.
• Most of the contributing writers are also practicing scientists or experts in the concerned discipline.
• List of astronomical observatories, cantered around different electromagnetic wavelengths, in India, in Appendix 7, and the map in Appendix 8.
• List of historic supernovas in Appendix 5
• A chapter (30) on some great astrophysicists and cosmologists, including three Indians*, and their major contributions.

[* one of these, Prof C V Vishweshwara, from Karnataka, was also a popular science writer in both Kannada and English. His delightful article appears on p417 (as chapter 34), immediately following mine. Incidentally, he and I were both students of Central College, Bangalore in the late fifties. Course wise, he was just one year ahead of me. In all other respects, he was light years ahead of me!]

The Challenges 

Despite all their rich experience of over six decades, the publishers have surely faced many challenges in bringing out such a product, something distinctive, considering the magnitude of the task in an environment where the local language is rarely chosen as the medium to carry information on frontier developments in science and technology.  The challenges would have included the publishers’ commitment to such an undertaking after assessing its pros and the cons, the need to identify a large number of contributors, and editors, of well established reputation who would accept the task, and get the editors to work with the contributors on their individual assignments within a reasonable time frame. They would have also had to work with the technical staff on the illustrations and graphics which are such key aspects of the publication, and on various other aspects of the production process itself.

On their part, the editors would have faced the challenge of interacting with the contributors, deciding on their specific tasks, getting these tasks completed within a reasonable time frame, and complete the onerous task of integrating the contributions from diverse sources into a finished product after guiding the technical staff on the extensive illustrations and graphics employed in the publication.  In parallel, the editors would also have faced the challenge of agreeing on the precise technical terms in Kannada, equivalent to those commonly employed in English, as well as the extent to which they would retain the terms used in English unaltered.

The Translations

While much of the publication has evolved from texts written directly in Kannada, the editors have also opted for translated versions of several chapters written originally in English.  These chapters are: 20.1, 20.2, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28.2, 32, 33 and 34.  They have been translated by a few people who also appear to have a strong background in the disciplines concerned.  If, and to what extent, the original English text has been ‘lost in translation’, either in content or intent or both (often an inherent disadvantage in translations), is something for the discerning reader to judge if he/she is proficient in both languages and can view both versions together.  Towards this end, and purely as an academic exercise, I reproduce below the two versions of my own contribution (Chapter 33*), the full extent of eight pages of each of them shown side by side, page wise. The fact that they are out of sync is something to be expected, often because of different page layouts and choice of illustrations.

[* I have selected this particular chapter only because I have access to both versions]

Incidentally, the English version of the article appearing here is itself a modified and updated version of the article that first appeared in my blog (see here) on 27Oct11. Also, the co-editor, Dr Shylaja, opted to get the article translated from another person only after I had expressed my own inability to do so because of unfamiliarity with most technical terms in Kannada as also on account of my demonstrated inexperience in writing in Kannada*.

[* Someone had jocularly suggested that I could have assigned the job to google translate online. After trying out a few largely technical paragraphs recently, I don’t treat the suggestion anymore as jocular. I wonder how much easier the job will prove to be if it is fully powered by the latest in AI!]

(Note: If necessary, the images below can be blown up to their full size by clicking on any and opening it in a separate window.) 

Some Observations

From personal experience, I know how difficult it is to coordinate and edit the work of diverse writers into a single coherent entity.  Inevitably, and rightly or wrongly, critics and enlightened readers point out errors, mistakes and their own personal dissatisfaction (as well as praise) on certain aspects of the publication. These will have to be faced, addressed in due course and remedied to the extent possible when a new print or edition is brought out.  For my part, I would dearly like to examine the whole publication as an enlightened reader and offer my comments.  But, considering the sheer size of the volume, it is too early for me to be in a position to do so. However, something obvious, and hard to cut down, is the extent of overlapping content across different chapters in the book.  Perhaps this is best left untouched in a heterogeneously sourced work of this nature!

Epilogue

The listed price of the book (₹1,950) may discourage some individual buyers, but should be perfectly alright for institutional buyers as also others with the means who may wish to use it as a lasting reference work.  Hopefully, the publishers will soon bring out a paperback version at a more affordable price, especially for students.  Thereafter, one hopes it will not be too long before electronic versions are also made available, including an e-book, ಹಂತ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿ!