OCHS Weblog

Exhibition @ Royal Academy of Arts
 
In the Sackler Wing of Galleries
11 Nov 2006—25 Feb 2007

This exhibition of approximately forty bronze sculptures explores the artistic and cultural riches of the Chola dynasty of southern India between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Throughout their rule the Chola were great patrons of the arts and oversaw an extensive programme of temple construction. Portable bronze sculptures, revered as physical manifestations of the Hindu gods, were produced to fulfil public functions and preside over specific festivities. Chola bronzes are widely considered to be among the finest works of Indian sculptural art.

Picture: Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of Dance), eleventh century, bronze, height 111.5 cm. Photo: © The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1930.331.

www.indiatoday.com

CHANDIGARH, INDIA, November 20, 2006: At the Lal Chand Research Library, DAV College, Chandigarh, over 8,360 ancient manuscripts and 9,000 rare books are being given a new lease on life. Literally smuggled out from Lahore’s DAV College in 1947, the rare documents were divide into two lots: a warehouse in Amritsar and an ashram in Hoshiapur before being brought back to Chandigarh. Today these manuscripts are being rescued in another way, and preserved for posterity. This includes categorization and cataloguing of all the scripts in the collection, which has taken the library staff six months. Thirty DVDs which describe the contents of the library are now ready. The actual manuscripts are coated with lemon grass oil and coal dust every two years to keep the engravings visible while the paper scripts are laminated. This astonishing collection spans 45 subjects, including the Vedas, Brahamanas, Dharamshastras, literature, philosophy, art, astronomy, architectur e, ethics and linguistics. Detailed records of drawings and measurements of monuments such as the Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple can also be found here

Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience 

Author - Mikel Burley
Series: Routledge Hindu Studies Series   
 
ISBN: 9780415394482
ISBN-10: 0415394481

Samkhya and Yoga are two of the oldest and most influential systems of classical Indian philosophy. This book provides a thorough analysis of the systems in order to fully understand Indian philosophy. Placing particular emphasis on the metaphysical schema which underlies both concepts, the author adeptly develops a new interpretation of the standard views on Samkhya and Yoga.

Drawing upon existing sources and using insights from both Eastern and Western philosophy and religious practice, this comprehensive interpretation is respectful to the underlying spiritual purpose of the Indian systems. It serves to illuminate the relation between the theoretical and practical dimensions of Samkhya and Yoga. The book fills a gap in current scholarship and will be of interest to those concerned with Indology as well as philosophies in general and their similarities and differences with other traditions.

To order: http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=0415394481&pc=

Dear All,
The last week of term already and we have two events only this week (apart from
lunch):

• Wednesday 29th November 11.00 Hinduism I, Divinity Faculty
• Wednesday 29th November 1.00 OCHS Lunch.
• Thursday 30th November 2.00 Prof Narasimhachary and Prof Flood ‘Understanding the Pancaratra’, OCHS library.

All the best,
Gavin

From Oxford Today, the University Magazine 

In trinity term the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS) became a “Recognised Independent Centre” of the University. Established seven years ago, OCHS is a resource for scholars, media and the business community seeking reliable information on Hindu philosophy, culture and practice. It is funded by public subscription. 

Around 50 Oxford students currently use the centre, and its academic Director, Professor Gavin Flood, is also a member of the University’s Faculty of Oriental Studies. “This new development is an important addition to Oxford’s wealth of resources on India and Indian religious traditions”, said the Chancellor, Lord Patten. “It fits in well with our goal to attract more Indian students to come and study at Oxford. The new official association provides a platform for the Centre and the University to move forward together in teaching, research and publishing.” 

sify.com

GANGOTRI, INDIA, November 20, 2006: Glaciers throughout the world are in melt mode. Considered as the thermometer of global warming, world’s best-known ice masses are fast disappearing. And India’s Gangotri glacier is one of them. Studies conducted by WWF, available exclusively with CNN-IBN reveal that the Gangotri glacier is receding at an alarming average rate of 75 feet every year. Gangotri Dham–a temple–is a pilgrim site for many Hindus in India. Devotees believe that hundreds of years ago, Ganga originated from this point, which is why the temple was built in the lap of the Himalayas. In 1935 the Gangotri was melting by 23 feet per year and by 1990 the meltdown had increased to 59 feet. At the present time, key Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by almost 21 percent says a devotee Baba Prayag Giri, “I have seen the holy River Ganga receding by 546 yards in the last 20 years. ”

CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation Team trekked with a team of scientists to the current source of the holy river, Gaumukh, crossing areas that were once covered by the Gangotri glacier. Scientist have rung the alarm bell. With the nearly 17 mile long Gangotri glacier shrinking, there is now less water downstream to dissolve the chemical wastes of over a 100 industries that pour into the river. With less water, the density of pollutants in the Ganga keeps increasing, making expensive projects like the Ganga Action Plan, totally ineffective. Says Scientific Officer, Birla Institute of Technology, Rajesh Kumar, “Earlier, there were no crevices on the glacier. But as more portions are exposed to the sun, crevices will form and huge blocks of the glacier will break away.” These glaciers are a primary source of water for 30 to 50 percent of the major rivers in the Gangetic plain.

Dear All,
I’ve just flown back from the AAR (hence the delay).
This week we have;

• Weds 22nd November, 11.00 Hinduism I, Theology Faculty
• Weds 22nd November, 1.00 Lunch, OCHS
• Weds 22nd November, 5.00 Academic Planning Meeting, OCHS Library
• Thurs 23rd November, 2.00-3.00 OCHS Library.  Graduate Seminar: Chris Wood, ‘The Teleology of Meditation’
• Thurs 23rd November, 8.15 (for 8.30) Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College:  Prof Erlendur Haraldsson ‘Empirical Inquiry into Cases of Children who claim to remember a past life’

Have a good week!
Gavin

www.cybernoon.com

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, November 13, 2006: The Maharashtra government is proposing legislation which will empower the state to take over all religious shrines. If the legislation is enacted it will place all Hindu, Jain, Christian and Buddhist shrines under government control. The law, however, makes no mention of Aukaf land (Muslim religious bequests) which are located all over the state.

The intended purpose of the proposal, according to the government, is to curb corruption at the temples. At the present time, some shrines are under government control from which the state is getting two per cent of the total income. In the new bill the provision is made to take 12 to 15 per cent of the total income. According to senior government officials, the proposed legislation will add approximately US$890,000 in yearly revenues to the government. In Mumbai alone, there are 60,000 - 70,000 religious shrines. Most of these are involved in various controversies and more than 75,000 litigations related to them are pending with the Charity Commissioner’s office. The officials feel that this particular legislation will reduce the litigations and will provide a way out of the long pending problems.

For an improbable yet interesting cross-over between Gandhi and modern communication techniques take a look at this advertisment, which won the EPICA awards for best ad. Oh, what could have been…

Click below :
http://www.epica-awards.org/assets/epica/2004/winners/film/flv/11071.htm

Dear All,

Week 6 and we have the following….

Monday 13 th Nov 1.00 Sanskrit Lunch, Balliol.
Tuesday 14th  Nov 11.00 Sanskrit Reading with Prof Narasimhachary.
Tuesday 14th Nov 2.00 Theories of the Text, 2.00 OCHS Library.
Weds 15th Nov 11.00 Hinduism I, Theology Faculty
Weds 15th Nov 1.00 LUNCH OCHS

And that’s it for this week folks. I’m off to the AAR on Thursday flying back Mon so back in the office Tuesday.

Have a good week.

Gavin

On Thursday 9th November we held a well attended and successful concference at Regent’s Park College in association with the Centre for Christianity and Culture.

Desire in its widest sense is fundamental to human existence and has been the focus of much discussion in religious traditions over the centuries. Desire has been seen as a negative quality which keeps people in bondage, as generally in Buddhism, but desire for a greater good has also been seen as a positive force in different traditions. The aim of this conference was to explore the idea of desire and its understanding in Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, and to generate discussion of comparative philosophy and theology across traditions.

The speakers, and respondents, were Prof Keith Ward (Christ Church College, Oxford), Dr. Ulrike Roesler (Baliol College, Oxford), and Dr. Dermott Killingley (University of Newcastle). The conference was marked by well prepared presentations, astute responses and excellent discussion.

Picture: Dr Killingley, Dr Roesler and Prof Ward

For Diwali this year, OCHS joined forces with the Ashmolean Museum’s Inter-Faith Exhibitions Service to celebrate the holiday with a programme of stories and music, bringing the Ramayana to Oxford families. The day included Indian classical music recitals, retellings of the Ramayan, and a superb end-of-the-day performance of the rescue of Sita. The OCHS was transformed into a lively theatre as, primed with a showing of a film from Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades, the audience helped to stage a spirited drama - check out the forthcoming film anytime now!

Its pretty safe to say that fun was had by all, and the day marked a successful collaboration between OCHS and the Ashmolean, together making the celebration even more a part of Oxford life.

OCHS Theological Dialogues have always been a great success, and thursday’s seminar was no exception. Dr Yahya Michot and Mr Rembert Lutjeharms exchanged views on the ‘Singularity of God’ with a sizeable and diverse Oxford audience.

 You might think that - with Islam’s commitment to the unique God of radical monotheism, and Hinduism’s inclusion of ‘millions’ of deities - the two religions would find themselves in irrevocable disagreement on the nature of the divine. But what came out of this talk is that we can no longer afford to present a one-sided, simplified view of either religion - historically, both traditions have included both thinkers who felt that God is in some sense part of the world, and thinkers who have asserted the absolute transcendence of the divine with an absolute separation of the created world from its creator. It seems that theistic and pantheistic traits can be found in both traditions. The speakers went on to ask which view is more empowering to the believer, to look at the status of different kinds of religious mediator (the guru, the prophet, the teacher, the avatar, the saint), and to consider the social and political implications of these issues.

Dear all,