Synopsis This volume is meant to honour an outstanding scholar and an efficient Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dr. Debala Mitra, who has drawn admiration from her various colleagues, both Indian and foreign. These scholars have contributed valuable articles in appreciation of her careful and learned contributions. Dr. Debala Mitra was both a serious academician and an indefatigable worker as an archaeologist. As a Buddhist scholar she is renowned for her volumnous works and as a field worker she is credited with several important excavations. But what makes her so loving and admirable to the scholarly world is her humbleness. And in that respect she represents undoubtedly the traditional Indian concept of a scholarly personality, viz. bhavanti namras taravah phalagame, the trees bow down (only) due to the weight of fruits. Dr. Mitra has retired from her official career but not from her educational pursuits. This volume contains writings on various topics of Indian archaeology starting from the pre-historic Mohen-Jo-Daro upto the late medieval period. As Mitra herself is a scholar embracing a wide field of Indology so a host of scholars have contributed to various topics on Indian art and archaeology belonging to a long period and wide area. As she was also engaged in the field work of excavation and in the study of art in Nepal, this volume contains three articles on the art and architecture of Nepal. We thank all our friends and scholars who share our feelings in congratulating Dr. Debala Mitra on her sixty-fifth birthday.