Hybrid Event | Illuminated Deities: Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Devotional Texts in 麻豆AV鈥檚 Rare Books and Special Collections
Join Prof. Hamsa Stainton of 麻豆AV's Religious Studies department for a lunchtime introduction to the illuminated Indic manuscripts of 麻豆AV鈥檚 Rare Books and Special Collections. This talk focuses on the relationship between the images of Hindu deities and the devotional texts with which they are paired. The presentation will include interactive examinations of multiple manuscripts and a detailed look at one extraordinary codex of over a thousand pages and 47 full-page images. This particular manuscript comes from Kashmir and includes famous texts like the聽叠丑补驳补惫补诲驳墨迟腻聽as well as many Tantric texts and deities.聽
Join ROAAr for this hybrid event. This event will be live-streamed for remote attendance, and we will be happy to host a limited number of in-person attendees.
About the Speakers
Hamsa Stainton is an聽Associate Professor in the School of Religious Studies at 麻豆AV. He completed graduate work at Columbia University (Ph.D.) and Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S.), and he previously taught at the University of Kansas. He specializes in South Asian religions, particularly Hinduism, and has spent many years studying and travelling in South Asia. He teaches classes on a variety of topics related to the history and diversity of South Asian religions, including courses on the history of yoga, the聽Ramayana听补苍诲听Mahabharata,听bhakti聽and Tantric traditions, and Hindu goddesses. His recent research and publications focus on the religious and literary history of Kashmir, and specifically the genre of Sanskrit devotional poetry known as the聽stotra聽(hymn of praise). His recent monograph,听Poetry as Prayer in the Sanskrit Hymns of Kashmir聽(Oxford University Press, 2019), charts the trajectory of this genre in Kashmir from the eighth century to the present. He has also published a volume on Hindu Tantra, co-edited with Dr. Bettina B盲umer, called聽Tantrapu峁膩帽jali: Tantric Traditions and Philosophy of Kashmir;听Studies in Memory of Pandit H.N. Chakravarty. His current research, funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, is called 鈥淣avigating the Ocean of Hymns: Popular Sanskrit and the Historiography of Hinduism.鈥�
