Lavanya Vemsani - Modern Hinduism in Text and Context

Modern Hinduism in Text and Context

To the memory of my parents Mandalapu Vijaya Bhaskara Rao and Ramaseetha Devi

Also available from Bloomsbury

The Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies, edited by Jessica Frazier

Hindu Worldviews, Jessica Frazier

Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces, edited by Bruce M. Sullivan

Contents

Lavanya Vemsani

Elaine Fisher

Michael Baltutis

Carl Olson

Deepak Shimkhada and Jason Mitchell

Amy-Ruth Holt

Lavanya Vemsani

Deborah A. Logan

Patrick Beldio

Nanette R. Spina

Kaustavi Sarkar

Antoinette E. DeNapoli

Lavanya Vemsani

Lavanya Vemsani (PhD Religious Studies, McMaster University and PhD History, University of Hyderabad) is BoT Distinguished University Professor of History and Religious Studies at Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. She teaches, researches, and publishes on subjects of ancient Indian history and religions as well as current history of India. She is the author of Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Lord of Many Names (2016) and Hindu and Jain Mythology of Balarama (2006) as well as numerous articles on early History and Religions of India. She has served as the editor-in-chief of International Journal of Hindu and Dharma Studies (201517). Presently she is the editor-in-chief of American Journal of Indic Studies and associate editor of South Asian Religious History. She is currently completing her work on two book projects: India: A New History and Ancient Settlement Patterns of Southern India.

Michael Baltutis (PhD Religious Studies, University of Iowa) is associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, where he teaches courses on the classical and contemporary Hindu and Buddhist traditions of India and Nepal. He has published a number of articles on the use of royal-political rhetoric displayed by the erstwhile king of Nepal during the second Janndolan (peoples movement 2006) and several essays on the transgressive god Bhairav, central to religion in Nepal. He is the book review editor of the International Journal of Hindu Studies.

Patrick Beldio (PhD Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America) is an independent scholar, who previously served as teaching fellow at Catholic University of America, Washington DC, as well as a professional artist. His most recent sculpture is an epic work that was unveiled in 2017, entitled The New Being, a 39-foot bronze sculpture in Walnut Creek, California. It represents the growth and union of consciousness with God and in service to creation. As a teacher, he has taught courses in studio art practice, religious studies, and the history of sacred art and architecture.

Antoinette E. DeNapoli (PhD Religion, Emory University) is an associate professor of religion/South Asian religions at Texas Christian University. Her teaching research interests include Asian religions, especially the ascetic traditions and monasticism in India. Antoinette is the author of the book Real Sadhus Sing to God: Gender, Asceticism, and Vernacular Religion in Rajasthan (2014) as well as numerous articles on Hinduism. Currently, she is working on her next book titled Religion at the Crossroads: Experimental Hinduism and the Theologizing of the Modern in Contemporary India.

Elaine Fisher (PhD Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University) currently serves as assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. She is the author of Hindu Pluralism: Religion and the Public Sphere in Early Modern South India (2017), and a number of articles on Hinduism. Her current book project undertakes study of Sanskritic Vraaivism.

Amy-Ruth Holt (PhD Art History, Ohio State University) is an independent scholar. She has taught as a visiting-assistant professor of Asian art history at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia; and as an adjunct lecturer at the Ohio State University, Newark. She has written a number of articles on southern Indian art and visual culture.

Deborah A. Logan (PhD English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is professor of English at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches Victorian Literature and Culture, and World Literatures. She has published extensively on Victorian author Harriet Martineau. Her most recent publication is From Raj to Swaraj: The Indian Ladies Magazine 19011938 (2017). Her previous books include: Harriet Martineau, Victorian Imperialism, and the Civilizing Mission (2010); The Hour and the Woman: Harriet Martineaus Somewhat Remarkable Life (2002); and Fallenness in Victorian Womens Writing: Marry, Stitch, Die, or Do Worse (1998). She is editor of the biannual Victorians Journal of Culture and Literature.

Jason Mitchell (PhD candidate in Comparative Theology and Philosophy) is a teaching associate of Professor Shimkhada at Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California. His research focuses on postmodern pluralism and comparisons of Hindu and Islamic folk literature.

Carl Olson (PhD Religious Studies, Drew University) is professor of Religious Studies at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. Besides many reviews and essays in journals, books, and encyclopedias, his more recent published books include the following: The Different Paths of Buddhism: A Narrative-Historical Introduction (2005); The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-Historical Introduction (2007); Celibacy and Religious Traditions (2007); Religious Studies: The Key Concepts (2011); The Allure of Decadent Thinking: Religious Studies and the Challenge of Postmodernism (2013); Indian Asceticism Power, Violence, and Play (2015); and Religious Ways of Experiencing Life: A Global and Narrative Approach (2016).

Kaustavi Sarkar (PhD Dance Studies, Ohio State University) is a visiting assistant professor at University of North Carolina in Charlotte (UNCC), and artistic director of India-based Indian classical dance organization called Kaustavi Movement Center. She has performed in numerous dance festivals and conferences in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Her choreography has been featured in American College Dance Association Conference, Faculty Concert at UNCC, and Charlotte Dance Festival. Her interdisciplinary work is based on critical theoretical analyses within digital humanities and has published in religious studies, dance and technology, queer studies, performance studies, and arts entrepreneurship.

Deepak Shimkhada (PhD Claremont Graduate University) continues to teach at Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California, as an adjunct professor of Hindu Studies following his retirement from Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California, in 2011. He is the author of many journal articles and several book chapters. His edited volumes include: Nepal: Nostalgia and Modernity (2012); The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia (2008); and The Himalayas at the Crossroad: Portrait of a Changing World (1987).

Nanette R. Spina (PhD Religious Studies, McMaster University) is associate professor of religion at the University of Georgia. Dr. Spina has conducted field studies among religious communities in South Asia and North America. She is the author of