Archaeology of Bhakti

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.