The advertising brochure of
the Urusvati institute

The Urusvati, Himalayan Research Institute of Roerich Museum, founded by Madame and Professor de Roerich, conducts original scientific research in varied fields of arts and sciences. In establishing the Institute, the Founders felt the growing necessity for a Research Center in a region eminently fitted for scientific investigation.

The Research Institute consists of the following Research Departments:

(A) Dept. of Archaeology, related sciences and arts.
(B) Dept. of Natural and Medical Sciences and applied research.
(C) Research Library.
(D) Museum.

One of the main objects of the Institute is to preserve and record the rapidly vanishing folklore knowledge, and to provide American and European scholars with a possibility of field-work in India and other regions of the Middle East.

The Institute frames its scientific activities in close cooperation with the already existing scientific institutions in India and the different scientific institutions and foundations in the United States and Europe.

A. The Archaeological Department plans to conduct scientific excavations on sites previously agreed upon by the Indian Archaeological Survey and the Institute. The Institute will also make the necessary arrangements with the Indian Archaeological Survey to allow members and visiting research students of the Institute to use the Archaeological Survey Bungalows at important sites such as Taxila, Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Sarnath and Nalanda.

The Archaeological Department of the Institute conducts archaeological surveys, linguistic and ethnographical studies in the Himalayan region, and the adjacent region of Western Tibet. It is hoped to be able to conduct extensive excavations in different regions of the Middle East, provided conditions make scientific expeditions possible. The Archaeological Department is organizing an experimental laboratory to study scientific methods in archaeology.

B. The Department of Natural and Medical Sciences conducts original investigations in the different branches of these sciences.

Extensive biological and botanical explorations of the Himalayan region are in progress, and it is hoped to extend these explorations to the various regions of the Middle East and India, provided conditions make such expeditions possible. A Botanical Research Laboratory, extensive plantations and experimental botanical gardens are in the process of being organized.

A. Bio-chemical Laboratory is at present under construction. This section of the Institute will devote itself primarily to the study of ancient Indian and Tibetan medicine and physiology with the object of investigating its attainments in the light of modern research. The Institute staff cooperates in this research with native practitioners and collectors. A Herbarium of medicinal plants is constantly being enriched. One of the first projects to be inaugurated will be a plantation of medicinal plants, for which purpose the Kulu Valley affords special possibilities. A Cancer Research Laboratory is nearing completion, in which new and local cures will be experimented.

C. The Library of the Institute collects books, pamphlets and manuscripts in the various fields of arts and sciences, and proposes to issue monthly lists of Indian and Western scientific publications. The Library is built up through grants of books, and book-exchanges with the leading scientific institutions and publishers. The Library also collects Oriental books and manuscripts, as well as photo static copies of rare manuscripts and editions.

D. The Institute has established a Museum to house collections gathered by the different departments of the Institute in the course of their explorations and research work. The Museum maintains a photographic service, where all the photographic material of the various expeditions of the Institute is being deposited.

The nature of the scientific investigations conducted by the Institute requires an operative base, situated in the Himalayas and answering the requirements of climate, altitude, and soil. The present headquarters of the Institute are on land donated for this purpose by Madame and Professor de Roerich at Naggar in the Kulu Valley, in the Western Himalayas. The headquarters are situated at an altitude of six thousand feet and the nature of the ground provides the possibility of establishing plantations at different altitudes.

The Institute maintains an adequate permanent staff of paid specialists, who are responsible for the activities of the Institute.

Besides salaried members of the staff, the Institute has corresponding associate members. Provisions will be made to give possibilities of scientific work to research students, holders of traveling and research scholarships from American and European scientific institutions.

The Institute publishes a bi-annual Journal of its scientific activities, in which each department has its section. In addition to the Journal, the Institute from time to time publishes works of outstanding importance by Members of the Institute.

Besides an annual grant from the Roerich Museum, the Institute is financed by private donations. The following classes of member's ships are open to the public:

Patron................................... $ 10,000
Donor.......................................1,000
In Perpetuity...............................2,000
Sustaining..................................1,000
Life Member.................................500
Fellow......................................300
Associate...................................100
Annual Member...............................25
Student Member..............................10

For further information please apply to:
Secretary, Urusvati, Himalayan Research Institute of the Roerich Museum, 310 Riverside Drive, New York City, U. S. A.
or
Secretary, Urusvati, Himalayan Research Institute, Naggar, Kulu, Punjab, British India.

 

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