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Bhagavata Art History Initiative

The Bhagavata Purana Research Project of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies is committed to building a network of scholars engaged with the Bhagavata Purana and furthering innovative research on all aspects of the text. Although the Bhagavata has been depicted, interpreted, and performed for centuries through the visual arts, most research has focused exclusively on its verbal dimensions. Neeraja Poddar is leading the project’s art history initiative to help remedy this imbalance and expand the field to the visual.

2007.384 - Yashoda Chastises Her Foster

 Yashoda Chastises Her Foster Son, the Youthful Krishna, Folio from an illustrated Bhagavata Purana, 1501–1600, Art Institute Chicago

Neeraja Poddar is organizing a conference devoted to the myriad visual incarnations of the Bhagavata, with a focus on the Krishna legend. From illustrated manuscripts and scrolls to woven textiles and temple reliefs, we hope to truly broaden the scope of the project, and our understanding of “the Bhagavata in the world.” The interest of scholars prompted us to include performance in the conference, which will assist in the exploration of the connection between the visual and performing arts. The tangible output will be an edited volume, but the conference will also yield a wider network of Bhagavata scholars, from junior researchers to established scholars and museum professionals, who work on materials from across the Subcontinent and beyond.

Bhagavata Art History Conference

  • Conference Participants and Schedule (to be posted)

  • Paper Abstracts (to be posted)

Rukmini Seeks Krishna’s Permission to Visit her Brother Rukma,  Folio from an illustrated Bhagavata Purana

1770–1780

Art Institute Chicago

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