Shivdasani Conference 2007

Archaeology and Text:
The Temple in South Asia

The Danson Room, Trinity College. Oxford, OX1 3BH

20–21 October 2007, registration 9.30am

Convenors Prof. Gavin Flood, OCHS, Oxford Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray, JNU, New Delhi

SC07 This conference is an attempt at understanding sacred spaces as they came to be defined in the archaeological record from around the latter half of the first millennium BC onwards. It will attempt to bridge the gap that exists between textual studies and archaeology with focus on the Hindu temple. We have invited leading scholars from India, Canada, the U.S.A., Russia, France, Germany and the U.K. Our speakers will make short presentations from papers they have prepared and encourage discussion on some of these significant themes.

Registration and costs

The cost for the conference is a mere £15.

Sessions

The Archaeology of the Temple

Creating Religious Identity: The Archaeology of Early Temples in the Malaprabha Valley
Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray, JNU, New Delhi, (Co-Convenor).

Temple Sponsorship and Money Use in Early Medieval Deccan
Dr. Shailendra Bhandare, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

The Ambika Temple at Jagat: A Biographical Sketch
Dr. Parul Pandya-Dhar National Museum Institute, New Delhi

The Social Impact of Hindu Temples in East Bengal under the Mughals
Dr. Sandrine Gill, Paris.

Money of the Gods: The Religious Tokens of India
Dr. Sanjay Garg, National Archives, New Delhi.

Sacred Space and the Making of Monuments in Colonial Orissa
Dr. Indra Sengupta, German Historical Institute, London.

Texts and Religious Action

Textual Tradition and the Temples of Khajuraho
Dr Devangana Desai, Mumbai.

Yajña and Pūjā: A Comparison of the Ritual Archetypes
Dr. Natalia R. Lidova, Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences.

The Archaeology of Ritual: Pūjā and Pañcamahāyajña
Dr. Michael Willis, British Museum, London.

Asceticism and the Bhakti Tradition

The Temple in Sanskrit Legal Literature
Professor Patrick Olivelle, University of Texas at Austin.

Hindu Samnyasins in the Temple Context
Professor T.S. Rukmani, Concordia University, Canada.

The Bhakti Movement and Bhakti Structures
Professor Jack Hawley, Barnard College, Columbia University.

World Renouncing Monks And World Celebrating Temples And Icons: The Ritual Culture Of Temples And Icons in Jainism
Professor John E. Cort, Denison University, Ohio.

Performance and Text

Absence and Presence: Worshipping the Jina at Ellora
Dr. Lisa Nadine Owen, University of North Texas.

The Dance Performed by the Temple: the Dynamics of Hindu Temple Architecture
Dr Adam Hardy, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff.

Temple Texts and Cultural Performances in South Asia
Dr Avanthi Meduri, Roehampton University, London.

Performing Konorak, Performing Hirapur
Dr Alessandra Lopez y Royo, Roehampton University, London

Colonial Modernity, Memory and the Devadasi Dance Tradition of the Viralmalai Murukan Temple
Dr Davesh Soneji, McGill University, Montreal.

Sastra and Proyoga: Balaramabharatam and Hastalaksanadipika as textual sources of Kuttiyam and Kathakali
Professor Mandakranta Bose, UBC, Vancouver, Canada.

The Style and Aesthetics of Indian Erotic Temple Sculpture
Dr David Smith, Lancaster University, Lancaster.