Logo

Dr. P. Baneree, born in 1920, obtained a First Class in the M.A. examination in Sanskrit with Epigraphy and Numismatics as special group in 1941 and Ph.D. Degree in History in 1950 from the Patna University, Patna. He joined a curatorial post in the Archaeological Section, Indian Museum, Calcutta, in 1949; was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India in 1955 and Superintendent, in the Archaeological Survey of India, in charge of the Central Asian Antiquities Museum (containing Sir Aurel Stein Collection of Central Asian objects.) New Delhi (now a part of the National Museum, New Delhi) in 1957. Dr. Banerjee joined the National Museum, New Delhi in 1960, and had served this Institution for twenty years in various capacities as Editor, Assistant Director, Director, Member-Secretary, Art Purchase Committee, and lastly as Consultant, Central Asian Antiquities. Dr. Banerjee has visited almost all the important Museums in India and outside (in the U.S.S.R., Europe, and the U.S.A.) for the study of Indian, Central Asian and Far Eastern objects. He is a leading exponent of Indian Art and Religion as well as of Central Asian Buddhist Art and Iconography. He is the author of a large number of research articles and several important books including (i) The Way of the Buddha (Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi), (ii) Early Indian Religions (Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi), (iii) The Life of Krishna in Indian Art (National Museum, New Delhi) and (iv) The Blue God (Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi) which have earned him international reputation as a scholar. He is a Vice-President of the All India Art Historians' Association and acts as an expert in various committees of the National Museum and Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi.