- Five-day Diamond Jubilee celebration at Rashtrapati Niwas, Shimla, from 11 to 15 October 2026
- IIAS Book Fair runs 11 to 15 October, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, with free entry
- Lectures on 11, 12 and 13 October cover Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh history, archaeology and Vande Mataram
- Digitised Rare Manuscripts Library Portal to be inaugurated on 11 October at 4:00 PM
- Art exhibition by Nisha Jaiswal to be inaugurated by Shovana Narayan on 11 October
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) at Rashtrapati Niwas, Shimla, begins a five-day Diamond Jubilee celebration on 11 October 2026. Entry to its book fair is free, and the week also brings lectures and art shows open to the public.
Books and free entry
The IIAS Book Fair runs from 11 to 15 October 2026, from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Visitors do not need a ticket.
Leading academic and scholarly publishers and book distributors will set up stalls at the Institute. They include Taylor & Francis India, Cambridge University Press, Orient BlackSwan Pvt. Ltd., Motilal Banarsidass Publishers and Bharatiya Sahitya Bhavana.
The Institute’s library has more than 1.5 lakh books and a substantial rare-book collection. On 11 October at 4:00 PM, Prof. Reicha Tanwar will inaugurate the IIAS Digitised Rare Manuscripts Library Portal. It will give scholars and students online access to rare manuscripts.
Lectures through the week
Prof. Raghvendra Tanwar (Padma Shree), Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, will open the academic programme on 11 October. His lecture is on the history of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
On 12 October, Professor Vasant Shinde, a globally renowned archaeologist and former Vice-Chancellor of Deccan College, Pune, will speak on Bharatiya knowledge systems. His talk focuses on Rakhigarhi.
Shri Akhilesh Jha of the Ministry of Rural Development will deliver a lecture on “Vande Mataram” on 13 October.
Art and closing ceremony
An art gallery will open during the celebrations. It will show works by artists who took part in the IIAS Art Camp on Kangra miniatures, held at the Institute from 15 to 19 June 2026.
Artist Nisha Jaiswal’s exhibition, “Bhartiya Forms, Expression and Consciousness”, opens on 11 October and runs till 15 October. Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan will inaugurate it.
Governor of Himachal Pradesh Kavinder Gupta will be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony on 15 October.
