Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 01

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 41

Govind Chandra Pande (1923-2011)/ 3
ICPR (1983-2011). He was Chairman of the Allahabad Museum Society from 1986 to 2005 and it was during this period that the Allahabad Museum was accorded the status of a National Museum. He remained Chairman-cum-President of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Shimla from 1998 to 2005 and also Chairman of Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath (2000-2003). He had been a member of the three-men Government of India Committee for reviewing the working of U.G.C. (1975-1977) and a member of Indian National Commission for Cooperation with the U.N.E.S.C.O. (1982-84). He had also been a member of the Central Board for Buddhist Studies and U.P. Government Committee for Buddhist Studies since their inception. He was visitor's nominee in the Executive Council of B.H.U., Varanasi (1982-85). He was member from time to time of a number of academic bodies like Societe Asiatique De Paris, Indian Historical Records Commission, Indian Advisory Board of U.P. Gazetteers, Council of Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Council of American Institute of Indian Studies and so on. He was elected President of the Darshan Parishad for it's Baroda and Pune sessions. He presided over the annual sessions of several other academic bodies, e.g., Rajasthan History Congress (1974), Indian Archaeological Society (1978). Indian History and Culture Society (1978), Hindi Sahitya Sammelan (1993) etc.
He delivered numerous prestigious lectures, some of the important ones being the Buddha Jayanti Lecture, Indian Philosophy Congress, Delhi (1975), R.K. Jain Memorial Lecture, Delhi University (1977), L.D. Series of Lectures of L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad (1977), Key-note Lecture, Congress of Religions, Colombo (1978), S. Chattopadhyaya Memorial Lecture at Visva-Bharati. Santiniketan (1982), Jagdish Kashyap Memorial Lecture at Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda (1984), Debendra Nath Memorial Lecture, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan (1988), G.S.P. Misra Memorial Lecture, Jaipur (1989), Hiranand Shastri Memorial Lecture, Vatsal Foundation, New Delhi (1980, 1991), Badrinath Shukla Memorial Lectures, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi (1991), Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Lecture, G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Ailahabad (1991), Badri Prasad Misra Memorial Lectures, Bhopal (1991). Ghananand Paude Memorial Lecture, Almora (1992), Dhirendra Verma Memorial Lecture, Hindustani Academy (1993), Gopinath Bhattacharya memorial Lecture, Calcutta (1993), K.S. Subramanya Ayyar Memorial Lectures, Lucknow (1993), R.K. Mukherji Memorial Lectures, Lucknow (1993), Srijan, Parivesh aur Parampara Lecture, Allahabad Museum (1997), Griffith Memorial Lecture, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi (1997). K.C. Pandey Centenary Memorial Lectures, Lucknow (1998), Gyaneshwar Tukaram Endowment Lecture, M.I.T. Pune (1998), Makhanlal Chaturvedi Memorial Lectures, Bhopal (1998), Inaugural Lecture, Sri Aurobindo Centre of Consciousness Research, ICPR, New Delhi (2001), Annual National Lectures of the ICPR, New Delhi (2002). One of his last lectures was the 'Samvatsar Lecture of the Sahitya Akademi series of annual lectures given by an eminent writer and creative thinker, wherein he spoke on 'Literature and Consciousness. He described literature as a branch of culture and culture as a mode of self-consciousness. What one may remember is that consciousness.
Professor Pande went abroad several times either to deliver a lecture or to participate in an International Conference. He was well-known as a versatile scholar, philosopher and thinker in the countries like USSR, England, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, China and Sri Lanka. Some of the places he visited were Colombo (1968), Ashkabad, USSR (1972). Zurich (1973, 1976), Wellington (1976), Salzburg (1976), Mexico City (1980), Hawaii (1981, 1989), Beijing (1991), and Engelburg (2000). In recognition of his outstanding contribution to oriental scholarship. various honorary degrees were conferred on him. e.g., D. Litt (Honoris Causa, B.H.U. Varanasi,