Many Ways to Tell a Story: Temple Māhātmyas in South India

Join us for a reception at 3 PM (CT) and a lecture beginning at 3:30 PM (CT)

A lecture will discuss the project ‘Hindu Temple Legends in South India’, which explores different forms of transmission and makes them accessible in a digital environment. This project produces digital editions of the Sanskrit and Tamil text and brings them together with a documentation of the respective temple architecture and iconography as well as the related rituals and oral traditions. This experience allows for the preservation of important forms of Hindu cultural heritage and, at the same time, enables new forms of analytical access.

The South Indian temple town of Kanchipuram has for centuries been considered one of the most sacred sites in Hinduism. Its significance for Hindu religiosity is substantiated by a large number of mythological narratives, which have been handed down as written text since the medieval period. They are, also reflected in temple architecture, iconography, inscriptions, material culture, rituals, and the oral traditions of the city. These narratives are also of central importance for the Hindu traditions as practiced today.

Dr. Ute Hüsken uses the example of the Yathoktakārī tempel to illustrate the aims and added value of the project.

About the Speaker: Dr. Ute Hüsken is Professor and Head of the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany

Sponsored by: South Asia Institute, Department of Asian Studies, Department of Religious Studies