VOIWORLD/Ashwathy R
India’s Ambassador to Thailand, Nagesh Singh, on Tuesday hosted a joint delegation from Ubon Ratchathani University (UBU) and the Indian Institute of Technology–Hyderabad (IIT-H) that is documenting historic sites across Thailand’s Isan region.
The Thai side was led by Dr Piyanat Soikham, Director of UBU’s India Studies Centre, together with lecturers from the Faculty of Applied Arts and Architecture. IIT-Hyderabad was represented by Dr Srikar A.V.R. and design students who spent the week on the UBU campus for field work.
An embassy note posted on X said the team’s goal is to “preserve and promote” temples and monuments that illustrate centuries of cultural exchange between India and Thailand. Many Isan-area shrines feature Hindu and Buddhist carvings that arrived via early trade routes.
During the meeting, the visitors and embassy officials discussed expanding faculty exchanges and joint research. As a courtesy, Dr Lalida Boonmee of UBU presented Ambassador Singh with a small replica of a seated Ardhanareeswara statue (the half-Shiva, half-Parvati deity) housed in the Ubon Ratchathani National Museum.
