Dulari Qureshi (born 24 September 1950) is an Indian academic, art historian and author. She has written more than 1,000 articles on art, culture and tourism development and its impacts on monuments. She is a retired professor and Director in the Department of Tourism Administration,
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU), formerly Marathwada University, is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It is named after B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian jurist and political leader. The university was established on 23 Au ...
,
Aurangabad
Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...
. She is also the Cultural chairperson of the
Ellora
Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temple cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 CE., Quote: "These 34 ...
-
Ajanta Ajanta may refer to:
*Ajantha, Maharashtra, or Ajanta, a village in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra
* Ajanta Caves
*Ajanta Express
*Ajanta Group
*Ajanta, pen name of poet Penumarti Viswanatha Sastry See also
*Ajantha (disambiguation) Ajantha may r ...
Aurangabad Festival. One of her significant contributions is the discovery of inscriptions at
Pitalkhora
The Pitalkhora Caves, in the Satmala range of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India, are an ancient Buddhist site consisting of 14 rock-cut cave monuments which date back to the third century BCE, making them one of the earliest examples of ...
near Aurangabad. Qureshi is the President of Indian Tourist Congress (Western Zone).
She is from
Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...
.
Biography
Dulari Qureshi is the daughter of Professor Ramesh Shankar Gupte, an art historian, author and the former head of Department of History and a senior professor in
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU), formerly Marathwada University, is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It is named after B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian jurist and political leader. The university was established on 23 Au ...
in Aurangabad. Her mother Nalini Gupte was a physician.
She holds a Doctorate in Art History; the topic of her thesis being, 'Art and Vision of
Aurangabad Caves
The Aurangabad caves are twelve rock-cut Buddhist shrines located on a hill running roughly east to west, close to the city of Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The first reference to the Aurangabad Caves is in the great chaitya of Kanheri Caves. The Aur ...
'. She also has a degree in Journalism and a post graduate diploma in Tourism.
Work

Dulari Qureshi has made contributions in the fields of art, history and journalism. She has written more than 20 research articles which were published on national level in books and journals.
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
Apart from her research work, she also contributes articles, feature stories, conducts interviews of famous personalities and has more than 500 articles and other stories to her credit. She started a series of articles and feature stories on the
gates of Auranagabad, their present condition which received attention on national level. More so, to promote the local culture and tourism, Dr Dulari along with Dr Morwanchikar took efforts to start the Ellora-Aurangabad festival, of which she is the cultural chairperson, which is held annually.
History
Apart from being a historian, Qureshi is also a History activist. She played a major role in coercing the
ASI to plan and to carry out some rock-buttressing and
waterproofing
Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...
works in the
Ajanta Caves along with the chemical conservation of a few of its
frescoes
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...
. Qureshi along with Morwonchikar, and
Walter Spink
Walter M. Spink (February 16, 1928 - November 23, 2019) was an American art historian who was best known for his extensive study of Buddhist art in India, particularly the Ajanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. About his work on the Ajanta c ...
also pointed out the blunders made at Ajanta by conservators in the past. They opined that only those frescoes in immediate danger of crumbling should be attended to by the ASI or any other national or International body working for the conservation of Ajanta caves.
Associations
She is closely associated with a number of organisations which are as follows:
* The Tourism Advisory Board;
Maharashtra
* Executive Member; Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
* Expert Committee on
Antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
ASI
* Cultural Chairperson; Ellora Ajanta Aurangabad Festival Committee
* She was also Joint Secretary of the World Management
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...
held in Aurangabad in October 1999
* Member of the Heritage Committee formed by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation
Books written
*''Art and Vision of Aurangabad Caves''
*''Tourism Potential in Aurangabad''
*''Fort of Daulatabad''
*''Rock Cut Temples of Western India''
*''Sculptures of Marathwada''
*''Ajanta, Sculpture, Architecture and Painting''
*''Encyclopedia of Hindu Temples'' (co-writer)
*''Encyclopedia of Buddhist Temples'' (co-writer)
*''Encyclopedia of Jain Temples'' (co-writer)
*''Encyclopedia of Muslim Monuments'' (co-writer)
Books edited
* Encyclopedia on Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam (IV Volumes)
References
Sources
Vedic BooksBagchee.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Dulari
Educators from Maharashtra
Women educators from Maharashtra
Indian Muslims
People from Aurangabad, Maharashtra
1950 births
People from Dhar
Living people
Indian women historians
20th-century Indian historians
Indian art historians
Historians of South Asia
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University
People from Marathwada
20th-century Indian women scientists
20th-century Indian scientists
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
Historians of Indian art
20th-century Indian women writers
Women scientists from Maharashtra