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Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

The forgotten legacy of ASI’s Institute of Archaeology

While the Institute of Archaeology established by Mortimer Wheeler in London evolved into one of the world’s leading archaeological research institutes, India’s Institute of Archaeology is at a crossroads.

With a recent report on the state of the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology in Greater Noida making headlines, all eyes are now on the Archaeological Survey of India. The report, published in ThePrint, highlighted the shortcomings of the ghost campus — vacant classrooms, no faculty or research infrastructure, and limited exposure for the students. To the report, the Ministry of Culture responded by highlighting the official student strength at the institute and the array of classes and workshops conducted at its new premise. 

It is true that this 289-crore campus, spread across 25 acres, was built with a lot of promises by the government. It was meant to become an updated version of the existing Institute of Archaeology, the ‘Nalanda’ of Indian archaeology. It was meant to provide students with a supportive, enthusiastic, and challenging academic atmosphere that enables them to achieve their full potential in the field of archaeology. 

Yet, despite these ambitions, many of the promises remain unfulfilled. Institutional neglect, inadequate academic expansion, and the declining quality of training have steadily weakened the diploma course. A programme that had evolved continuously with changing archaeological methods and academic demands was expected to enter a new phase of growth and transformation with the establishment of the new campus. But, rather than emerging as a leading centre for archaeological research and training, the institute today finds itself in the eye of the storm.

Amidst this crisis, what is slowly fading into the background is the story of the institution itself, the legacy it has carried for over 70 years of its existence, the generations it shaped, and the contributions it made to Indian archaeology. The answer to many of the questions surrounding its revival and future lie within its own history, in the vision with which it was conceived, the purpose it was meant to serve, and the immense contribution it has made to Indian archaeology.

For those discovering the institute only now through newspaper headlines, it may appear to be defined by only empty corridors and silent classrooms. But for its alumni, the institute was never merely a physical space. It was a place that shaped minds, nurtured curiosity, and instilled a sense of responsibility toward the preservation of the past. Long before it became a subject of controversy, it was home to archaeologists in the making, a space where history was not........

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