Event — Symposium

Religious Ideas in Motion: Recovering Śaivism Through Texts, Contexts and Practices

Three case studies are presented which explore processes of reception and transformation of Śaiva ideas in specific geographical and historical settings.

Śaivism is one of the most prominent religious traditions of South Asia. Its scope ranges from eccentric ascetic traditions, to the devotional practices of mainstream householders, as well as to the more refined intellectual and artistic productions carried out under courtly patronage. What makes the historical study of Śaivism challenging is that we are left with a bulk of texts of literary or prescriptive nature, while descriptive texts and material sources for contextualizing them are scarce. In this symposium, three case studies are presented which explore processes of reception and transformation of Śaiva ideas in specific geographical and historical settings.

Nina Mirnig will focus on early Śaivism in Nepal and examine the first extant local evidences attesting to Śaiva practices in the form of inscriptions engraved on the bases of Śivaliṅgas issued between 466 and 545 CE. By contextualizing them within the larger setting of the rise of Śaiva devotional practices at the time, also in relation to their Buddhist competitors, this paper aims to recover aspects of the reception and development of early Śaivism in Nepal that remained unnoticed so far.

Elisa Ganser will deal with the developments of dance and music, from their conceptions as ways of worshipping the deity or as personal expressions of devotion in early Śaiva and literary sources, to their treatment as sophisticated art forms codified in treatises on dramatics. In particular, the focus will be on the strategies used by the Śaiva philosopher Abhinavagupta (11th c.) in order to account for an aesthetic function of these art forms while preserving their specific religious character at the same time.

Jonathan Duquette will examine the revival in early modern South India of Śivādvaita Vedānta, a Śaiva-leaning school of Vedānta which has not received adequate treatment among scholars so far. Attention will be given to intellectual and socio-cultural aspects underlying the emergence and subsequent development of the school, in light of the transformative role played by its major proponent, the 16th-century polymath Appaya Dīkṣita.

 

Presentations

More Than Mere "Merit":  Śivaliṅga Pedestal Inscriptions in Early Medieval Nepal
Nina Mirnig (Gonda Fellow, IIAS)

Dance and Music as a Way of Salvation? Abhinavagupta's Answer
Elisa Ganser (Gonda Fellow, IIAS)

Re-inventing Theology: Appaya Dīkṣita’s Śivādvaita Project in Early Modern South India
Jonathan Duquette (Gonda Fellow, IIAS)