Dr. Vijay Sarde

Dr Vijay Sarde serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Archaeology at the Central University of Karnataka in Kalaburagi. He earned his PhD in Archaeology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune, following an M.A. in History from the University of Pune. Supported by an Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) Junior Research Fellowship, his doctoral research examined the archaeological and sculptural history of the Nātha Saṃpradāya in Maharashtra from the 12th to 15th centuries CE. His broader areas of specialisation encompass Indian art and iconography, temple architecture, epigraphy, early historic and medieval archaeology of Western India, and the material history of yoga. He is the author of The Archaeology of the Natha Sampradaya in Western India, 12th to 15th Century (Routledge, 2023) and Maharashtra ka Dharmik Paryatan (Aprant, 2017). Alongside his books, Dr Sarde has published more than twenty peer-reviewed research papers across English, Marathi, and Hindi journals. He has also contributed thirty-four historical entries to the Government of Maharashtra's Marathi Vishvakosh and documented over a hundred heritage temples for the Tattva Heritage Foundation. His extensive fieldwork includes supervisory and excavation roles at prominent Satavahana and medieval sites such as Junnar, Loni-Bhapkar, and Shiur, as well as monument conservation initiatives in Uttar Pradesh. An active public scholar, he regularly delivers invited national and international lectures, including for the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies in London and holds life memberships in leading bodies such as the Indian Archaeological Society and the Indian History and Culture Society.