[INDOLOGY] Query regarding a photograph

[Tyler Neill]

Hi Ananya,

I have some thoughts on the photo. I worked to renovate Widener A from
2015–2016 and also took an interest in understanding it.

At the time, I did a Google image search of it. That brought me to the
website of the Kerala Folklore Museum, which had an identical
black-and-white item (attached) as one of many such photographs. The old
version of that website which had these photos is available on Wayback
(2017 grab)
<https://web.archive.org/web/20171030152248/http://keralafolkloremuseum.org/anthraGallerys.php?id=21>
but
unfortunately no longer serves the images. The new version of
https://keralafolkloremuseum.org <http://keralafolkloremuseum.org> (created
in 2018 as far as I know) does not have this photo collection at all. My
meager understanding of the museum is that nearly all items, including the
photos, were collected by the founder George J. Thaliath.

More importantly, I think these kinds of photographs in those days were not
always genuinely representing real scenes. Instead, actors were often hired
and posed with props. My guess is that this is one of those types of
photos—which is to say, not necessarily real teachers in any way—and that
there were many copies, and that (perhaps) Lanman himself purchased one of
these photos as a keepsake during his trip to Maharashtra in 1889. Thaliath
then obtained his own copy through whatever means. Again, just an educated
guess.

The museum is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/folkloremuseumcochin.
You may be able to get in touch with them to find out more.

Best regards,
Tyler


On Wed, Jul 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM <indology-request at list.indology.info> wrote:

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> Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2025 18:46:20 +0530
> Subject: [INDOLOGY] Proceedings of Computational Sanskrit and Digital
> Humanities - WSC Kathmandu, 2025
> Dear list,
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> We are pleased to announce the online publication of the proceedings of
> the "Computational Sanskrit and Digital Humanities" section at WSC,
> Kathmandu at https://aclanthology.org/volumes/2025.wsc-csdh/
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> Best,
> Amba Kulkarni & Oliver Hellwig
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> From: Ananya Vajpeyi <vajpeyi at csds.in>
> To: Indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:01:36 +0530
> Subject: [INDOLOGY] Query regarding a photograph
> Dear List Members,
>
> Attached is a photograph that is kept in Room A of Widener Library, at
> Harvard. This is a room with Sanskrit materials:
>
> https://sas.fas.harvard.edu/sanskrit-library-widener-library-room-a/
>
> We know nothing about this photo -- who took it, why, when, where --
> nothing. Just that a piece of paper used to line the frame is newsprint
> from The Boston Traveler, Saturday, May 22, 1897.
>
> I realize many of you would have used Room A and have probably seen this
> photo at some point.
>
> Any information about it that you might have would be very helpful,
> thanks!
>
> Best,
>
> Ananya.
> --
>
> *Ananya Vajpeyi *
> *Professor *
> *Centre for the Study of Developing Societies*
> *29 Rajpur Rd., Civil Lines*
> *New Delhi 110054, INDIA*
> *EMAIL: vajpeyi at csds.in <vajpeyi at csds.in>*
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