Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of the building for Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under Ministry of Culture today at Plot No. 2, Institutional Area, Knowledge Park-II, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism was the Guest of Honour of the occasion.Addressing on the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh said that Ministry of Culture is doing a commendable job of preserving our rich cultural heritage and traditions. The new building of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology is being constructed at the cost of Rs. 300 crores and credit goes to the local Member of Parliament and Central Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma. He opined that the Indian Culture is the oldest culture in the world and Archaeological Survey of India helps in finding out the roots of our ancient rich cultural heritage. He said that the principle of ‘Ekatma Manav Dharma’ of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji has been recognized world over.Dr. Mahesh Sharma in his address said that the Government of India is celebrating Birth Centenary of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji this year and it has decided to dedicate the new building to him so as to commemorate the birth centenary of this great Indian leader. About 38,000 m2 area has been chosen for the proposed Institute out of the existing 25 acres of land.
The new building has been proposed to house a state of the art design concept having conference hall with a capacity of 1000 people, an archaeological museum with an area of 14,000 m2, residential buildings, hostel facilities for both boys and girls and a cafeteria. This building shall be sustainable, environment friendly accessible to the differently abled persons and will be equipped with disaster resistant measures.In his welcome address, Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary, M/o Culture said that since the space of the present Institute building in the Red Fort premises is not sufficient enough for its functioning it was therefore decided to come up with a new building at Plot No. 2, Institutional Area, Knowledge Park-II, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR with state of the art facilities.The Institute of Archaeology (IA) is an academic wing of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ministry of Culture. This Institute provides an outstanding environment for the academic research through its Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology, continuing its long established reputation for distinction in this field. Here students are provided with a supportive, enthusiastic and challenging academic atmosphere which enables them to achieve their full potential. The Institute along with two years’ Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology also conducts professional workshops on different fields of archaeology. The foremost aim of this institute is providing an opportunity for students to achieve excellence in their passionate fields of archaeology.Sir Mortimer Wheeler was the first to conceive the idea of a training school in archaeology in India. In 1944, under his guidance ASI organized a training school at Taxila. The main purpose was to offer basic technical skill to the Indian students. He also conducted training courses at the sites he excavated like Arikamedu, Brahmagiri and Harappa. There was a demand among the scholars, that the Survey to have a permanent separate training school.Due to the efforts of Amlananda Ghosh, the then Director General of ASI, in 1959 the School of Archaeology started under the Directorship of B.B. Lal. The School of Archaeology transformed to IA in 1983 as per R.N. Mirdha Committee Report.
This committee recommended for establishing an Institute where research work could be undertaken, and teaching as well as training is imparted to students keen on a career in Archaeology.The IA functions under the guidance of Director General, ASI. It is headed by a Director, who is supported by a academic and administrative staff. The mode of admission to the Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology is on the basis of merit. Through the written and oral examination, 15 candidates are selected every year. The final admission of these 15 candidates takes place in the month of October. A stipend of Rs.8000/- is given to the students admitted to the course. Even students sponsored by the neighbouring countries are also admitted. There is a hostel facility within the campus for outstation candidates. The Board of Studies looks after the reviewing of the syllabus of the Institute.The IA curriculum is a well blended combination of theoretical and practical studies. Along with the classroom education, the institute also gives the equal weight age to practical fieldworks. Institute of Archaeology offers interaction in Archaeology and applied sciences through collaboration with other branches of ASI like Chemistry Branch, Epigraphy Branch and so on. For the purpose of scientific analysis of the excavated samples for carrying out basis researches in the field of Archaeology, the IA collaborates with various Institutes like Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow; National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad; Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, Deccan College, Pune, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmadabad, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa.Well known archaeologists and scholars of national and international repute teach the students of IA. The Institute also organizes special lectures on different occasions to benefit the students and staff of ASI.
The Institute has outstanding facilities for research and training of students, including well equipped library, computer lab, photography section, drawing section etc. The library of the Institute caters to all the academic needs of the students and the staff members by offering more than 10,000 books, leading periodicals and journals for reference.With 57 years of its existence, the IA has produced many eminent archaeologists and scholars. The Institute has already won recognition outside India. Students from Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Thailand have been enrolled at this Institute. Its students even served as Director General of ASI and even foreign students of this Institute enjoy good positions in the Archaeological Departments of their nation. Through their contribution and excellence in the field of archaeology some alumni of this institute are bestowed with highest Civilian Awards of our country. Since the last 57 years of its journey the Institute has grown phenomenally and has served the discipline of Archaeology in the most earnest manner.