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
Video
Online, 25 November 2021

Discover "The EFEO's pāli manuscripts: a living heritage" the new video of the "Asian Treasures of the EFEO" by Maïté Hurel and Javier Schnake.
Conference
Hanoi, Vietnam, 25 November 2021

On November, 25 the international conference "EFEO Photographic Archives in the Social Science Library of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences" is being held in Hanoi, with presentations for the EFEO by Christophe Marquet, Isabelle Poujol and Philippe Le Failler!
Thematic Workshop
Paris, France, 24 November 2021
The Écoles françaises à l'Étranger (EFE), the Inrap and Bibracte are organising a thematic workshop on field recording tools. This workshop is a continuation of the workshop of 22 June 2021, which enabled these institutions to initiate an exchange on their respective practices around digital technology in their research activities.
This session will be held both in videoconference and in person, at the Maison de l'Asie, headquarters of the École Française d'Extrême-Orient, in Paris.
For more information
Exhibition
Chiang Mai, Thailand, 19 November 2021
On November 19, the French Ambassador, Mr. Thierry Mathou, and the Mayor of Chiang Mai, Mr. Asanee Buranupakorn, have inaugurated an exhibition of old EFEO photos presented by the House of Photography, a museum-gallery in the heart of the city. An expanded version of "Of Temples and Men".
This exhibition includes photos of Angkor, but also of Phimai, Phanom Rung and Phanom Wan, highlighting the long-standing cooperation between the EFEO and Thai archaeologists, first and foremost Prince Damrong, whose full-length photo welcomes visitors to the main hall.
Émile Sénart Prize 2021
Paris, France, 17 November 2021

The Émile Sénart Prize 2021 of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres was awarded to Ramyatna Shukla for the body of research devoted to vyākaraṇa, an Indian technique of grammatical description and philosophy of speech, exegesis and logic.