In very sad news recently, Former IAS officer B. Venkataraman, passed away to a heavenly abode in a private hospital in Delhi at the age of 95, on Tuesday afternoon after battling a long spell of illness. He was the authority on Chola History and Architecture.
An IAS officer of the 1950 batch, Mr. Venkataraman had served as the Chief Secretary, Orissa, and later on as Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, New Delhi. Apart from dedicating his life to the Civil Services, Mr. Venkataraman, had an undying passion for Chola art and history that he had inherited from his father S.R. Balasubrahmanyam. He even co-authored a book called ‘Later Chola Temples’ alongside his father.
His other works include ‘Laddigam: A Later Chola Temples’, ‘Temple Art under the Chola queens’ and ‘Rajarajeswaram-the pinnacle of Chola art’ on the Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara temple. Not just that, he wrote a doctoral thesis on the contribution of the Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi.
