Archaeology of Bhakti

Bhāgavatamāhātmya

Bhāgavatamāhātmya, undated edition (Gaṇapatakṛṣṇājī Mudrālaya, Bombay)

ahaṃ bhaktir iti khyātā (...)
utpannā drāviḍe sāhaṃ vrddhiṃ karṇāṭake gatā
kvacit kvacin mahārāṣṭre gurjare jīrṇatāṃ gatā (...)
vrndāvanaṃ punaḥ prāpya navīneva surūpiṇī
jātāhāṃ yuvatī samyak preṣṭharūpā tu sāṃpratam
Bhāgavatamāhātmya I.44-49 (partim)

" [I am called Bhakti (...)]
I was born in Dravida,
grew mature in Karnataka,
Went here and there in Maharashtra,
then in Gujarat became old and worn (...)
But on reaching Brindavan I was renewed,
I became lovely once again,
So that now I go about as I ought:
a young woman of superb appearance."

Translation by John Stratton Hawley ("Seeing the Bhakti Movement," In Archaeology and Text: The Temple in South Asia, ed. by Himanshu Prabha Ray, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 234).

The Archaeology of Bhakti
August 3rd - 14th 2015

The third workshop in the series The Archaeology of Bhakti, coorganised by Valérie Gillet (EFEO, Pondicherry), Charlotte Schmid (EFEO, Paris) and E. Francis (CEIAS, EHESS & CNRS, Paris) will take place at the centre of the EFEO in Pondicherry from the 3rd to 14th August 2015.

This year's theme is "The Bhakti of Minor Dynasties". The call for contributions is available at the following link.

 

 

EFEO News
Classics Day Prize 2022
Kyoto, Japan, 19 July 2022
Christophe Marquet, professor of the École française d'Extrême-Orient, was awarded the Classics Day Prize on July 1st, 2022, for his contribution to the dissemination of knowledge of Japanese art in France, through his teaching, his publications, and the curating of exhibitions.

Learn more
“Émile Sénart” prize - AIBL
Paris, France,

The “Émile Sénart” prize for Indological research of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres has been awarded this year to Hugo David for his book Une philosophie de la parole : l’Enquête sur la Connaissance Verbale (Śābdanirṇaya) de Prakāśātman, maître Advaitin du xe siècle, published in 2020 by the EFEO
Debate on the book by Alain Arrault,
Paris, France, 30 June 2022
As part of the "Cycle de débats du Centre d'études de la Chine moderne et contemporaine (EHESS)," Alain Arrault's book A History of Cultic Images In China. The Domestic Statuary of Hunan (EFEO-CUHK, 2020) will be discussed, under the moderation of Marie-Paule Hille (CECMC-UMR CCJ, Ehess), by Pierre-Antoine Fabre (Ehess), Florence Galmiche (Université Paris Cité - LCAO, UMR CCJ), and John Lagerwey (Ricci Institute of Paris) on Thursday, June 30, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Condorcet Campus (Forum of the Espace associatif et culturel, ground floor).
Exhibition ''TrancFiguration. Tattoos from Birth to Death''
Chiang Mai, Thailand, 28 June 2022

After being inaugurated and presented at the EFEO Chiang Mai Center and the Alliance française in Chiang Mai in May, and then at the Rai Mae Fah Luang - Art & cultural Park in Chiang Rai in June, the exhibition Trance/figuration, Tattooos From Birth to Death will be installed for two months (July and August) at the National Gallery in Bangkok.

Closure
Paris, France, 06 June 2022

The Maison de l'Asie, and therefore the library, will be closed on Monday 6 June 2022!