There are search engines, and then there is www. tuliresearchcentre.org an extraordinary portal that transcends mere information to become a living, breathing archive of India’s essence. This is not just a database; it is the culmination of over three decades of painstaking research, a monumental undertaking by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (TRIS) and its visionary founder, Neville Tuli.
Here, history does not sit passively in textbooks; it unfolds in a kaleidoscope of images, manuscripts, cinema, fine arts, and cultural wisdom, illuminating the interwoven threads of India’s past, present, and future. This is where Sholay is not just a film but a sociological and cinematic phenomenon, where a railway poster is not just vintage art but a gateway to a nation’s collective memory, and where every artifact whispers stories of civilizations, revolutions, and artistic renaissances.
The beta launch of this digital tapestry alongside the TRIS exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi, marks the beginning of an unparalleled journey. TRIS is not merely creating a repository; it is crafting the most visually immersive and intellectually profound knowledge base on India ever envisioned. This is where India’s cultural DNA is decoded, where every page opens doors to untold histories, hidden narratives, and forgotten legacies.
For the first time, cinema finds its rightful place as an academic discipline, as the exhibition presents an exhaustive collection of memorabilia from Sholay (1975), Pakeezah (1972), Zanjeer (1973), and Deewaar (1975). The hoardings, posters, fan mail, booklets, and glass slides are not just remnants of a cinematic past but proof of how storytelling, identity, and society are inextricably linked.
Beyond cinema, the archive dives into the labyrinth of Indian modern and contemporary fine arts, sharing a first-ever public record of global auction transactions from 1987 to 2025. Art here is not just visual but visceral, capturing the turbulence, triumphs, and transitions of a nation.
It ventures further into the Animal-Human-Nature Continuum, a poetic and philosophical journey through the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Nicholas Roerich, Jamini Roy, and M. F. Husain, where nature is not a backdrop but an active participant in India’s creative consciousness.
The Indo-German cinematic dialogue comes alive, illuminating the historical collaborations between Himanshu Rai, Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang, and Franz Osten. The Nature of Uncertainty section pays homage to magic, horror, and science fiction, resurrecting the mystique of Harry Houdini, P. C. Sorcar, and the surreal, shadowy realms of German expressionist cinema.
Tantric art, with its sacred sensuality, finds its voice through Ajit Mookherjee, G. R. Santosh, and Biren De, while the Illustrated Books and a Focus on Childhood collection reintroduces us to Abanindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, and Ganesh Pyne, capturing the innocence and imagination of a bygone era.
And then there are the railway posters of M. V. Dhurandhar, transporting us to another time, when travel was more than movement—it was a spiritual passage, a pilgrimage, a rediscovery of self and space.
This is not an exhibition. This is not a website. This is an intellectual revolution, a movement, a homecoming for India’s artistic and academic soul.
TRIS is not simply preserving history—it is resurrecting it, illuminating it, and offering it back to the world in a form so rich, so immersive, that it compels engagement, understanding, and reverence.
This is the mother of all search engines on India. Not one built on algorithms and keywords, but on the heartbeat of a civilization that refuses to be forgotten.
And this is only the beginning. As www.tuliresearchcentre.org expands, it is set to become the definitive portal for scholars, students, historians, artists, and seekers—anyone who dares to ask, “What is India?” and waits for an answer rich in layers, color, and meaning.