Dr. Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao (S.R. Rao), born in 1922, was educated in Mysore and Nagpur Universities. He was awarded D. Litt. for his book, Lothal and the Indus Civilization. He discovered 50 sites of Indus civilisation and excavated Rangpur and Lothal, the latter a Harappan port. Among other excavations undertaken by him, Amreli, an early historic site, Paiyampalli, a Neolithic-Megalithic settlement and Hampi, Capital of Vijayanagar, are important. After serving the Archaeological Survey of India for 32 years (1948-1980), Dr. Rao was appointed Emeritus Scientist (1981-1995) and Adviser (1996-97) in the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. Dr. Rao introduced Marine Archaeology, a new discipline, and directed underwater excavation of Dwarka in the Arabian Sea and Poompuhar in the Bay of Bengal. He was awarded the World Ship Trust Award, the F.I.E. Foundation Award and Gupta Foundation Award for individual excellence in Marine Archaeology. Along with other achievements of Dr. Rao, mention should be made of his decipherment of the Indus script for which he was awarded Jawaharlal Nehru fellowship. He is the Chairman of the International Centre for Indian Art and Cultural Studies, also the President of the Society for Marine Archaeology and an elected member of the UNESCO sponsored ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage. He is the author of Lothal and the Indus Civilization, Lothal ? A Port Town, Dawn and Devolution of the Indus Civilization, New Frontiers of Archaeology, Progress and Prospects of Marine Archaeology in India, and Traditional Paintings of Karnataka.
