DHARMA Project Workshop in Pondicherry (August 2023)
A DHARMA Project workshop is to take place from 17th August through 30th August 2023 in the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO. The focus is on Tamil epigraphy. The workshop will mainly consists in group reading sessions of selected inscriptions (in Tamil, in Sanskrit), that are of particular interest to the research topics of the DHARMA project. There will also be more formal presentations.
Tiruppuvaṇam Copper-Plate Set, plate 1 recto, rubbing from teh collection of Sir Walter Elliot. Courtesy of BnF.
Zoom-Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81809356290
PROGRAMME
THURSDAY 17th August
9.30-10 ― Welcome
10-10.45 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― presentation: a methodology for micro level study of Tamil inscriptions in temples
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― presentation: a matha for washermen in Tamilnadu
FRIDAY 18th August
9.45-10.45 ― S.A.S. Sarma & Vigneshwaran Muralidaran ― presentation: Kolar inscription (KI 108)
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― S.A.S. Sarma & Vigneshwaran Muralidaran ― presentation: Kolar inscription (KI 108)
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
MONDAY 21st August
9.45-10.45 ― Saarthak Singh ― reading session: archives of memory: inscription as commemoration at Udaypur, part 1
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― Saarthak Singh ― reading session: archives of memory: inscription as commemoration at Udaypur, part 1
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: archives of memory: inscription as commemoration at Udaypur, part 1
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
TUESDAY 22nd August
9.45-10.45 ― Saarthak Singh ― Presentation: pilgrimage and procession in a shared sacred space: temple inscriptions from Udaypur in medieval Malwa
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― Saarthak Singh ― Presentation: archives of memory: inscription as commemoration at Udaypur, part 2
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
WEDNESDAY 23rd August
9.45-10.45 ― Indra Manuel ― presentation: literary mode in the Tamil inscriptions
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
THURSDAY 24th August
9.45-10.45 ― S.L.P. Anjaneya Sarma ― reading session: tenth-century Sanskrit inscriptions from Cambodia
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― S.L.P. Anjaneya Sarma ― reading session: tenth-century Sanskrit inscriptions from Cambodia
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― R. Satyanarayanan ― reading session: some interesting aspects in Tiruvorriyur inscriptions
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Emmanuel Francis ― reading session: selected Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from Tamilnadu
FRIDAY 25th August
9.45-10.45 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Valérie Gillet ― presentation: Ambasamudram in the 9th-10th centuries
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Valérie Gillet ― reading session: Ambasamudram inscriptions
MONDAY 28th August
9.45-10.45 ― Coline Lefrancq ― presentation: critical presentation of the excavated archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu occupied from 6th to 13th c. CE
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― G. Vijayavenugopal ― reading session: selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Uthaya Veluppillai ― reading session: worshiping Tamil manuscripts in medieval Śaiva temples
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Uthaya Veluppillai ― reading session: worshiping Tamil manuscripts in medieval Śaiva temples
TUESDAY 29th August
9.45-10.45 ― K. Nachimuthu ― presentation: Praśasti and Meykkīrtti the Tamil Royal Orders (śāsana)
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― K. Nachimuthu ― presentation: Praśasti and Meykkīrtti the Tamil Royal Orders (śāsana)
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― Amandine Wattelier-Bricout ― presentation: benedictive and exhortative stanzas at the heart of religious making of South and Southeast Asia
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― Amandine Wattelier-Bricout ― presentation: benedictive and exhortative stanzas at the heart of religious making of South and Southeast Asia
WEDNESDAY 30th August
9.45-10.45 ― M. Trento ― reading session: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai copper plate inscriptions
10.45-11.15 ― coffee-break
11.15-12.30 ― M. Trento ― reading session: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai copper plate inscriptions
12.30-14.30 ― lunch-break
14.30-15.30 ― M. Trento ― reading session: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai copper plate inscriptions
15.30-16 ― tea-break
16-17 ― K. Nachimuthu ― reading session: early Pāṇdya Meykkīrttis
ABSTRACTS
S.L.P. Anjaneya Sarma
Reading of selected Sanskrit stanzas from the tenth-century Cambodian inscriptions, evincing literary/poetic values.
E. Francis
Reading of selected inscriptions, mostly in Tamil, but also in Sanskrit, from Tamil Nadu: inscriptions from Uttiramērur (Pallava, Cōḻa), meykkīrttis of the later Pāṇḍyas (12th-14th c.), Tiruppuvaṇam copper plates (Pāṇḍya, 13th c.), Sanskrit legends on the seals of South Indian copper plates (Pallava, Cōḻa, Pāṇḍya), and other various inscriptions from Tamil Nadu.
V. Gillet
Ambasamudram in the 9th-10th centuries
Presentation of the temple-site of Ambasamudram and reading of Tamil inscriptions in Vaṭṭeḻuttu script
C. Lefrancq
Critical presentation of the excavated archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu occupied from 6th to 13th c. CE
In this presentation, I will briefly introduce the various archaeological sites attesting an occupation from 6th to 13th c. CE, which have been excavated so far in Tamil Nadu. In addition to presenting the main architectural remains and the associated material, I will try to explore the historiographical context of those excavations and to discuss future possibilities from an archaeological perspective.
I. Manuel
Literary Mode in the Tamil Inscriptions
This will concentrate on the inscriptions which adopt the Tamil yāppu or the Tamil metres. Apart from inscriptions in which gifts, building of sanctuaries etc., are recorded in a poem in some Tamil metre, there are inscriptions in genres such as antāti, pañcaratnamālai, kaiyaṟu nilai (elegy) and also many inscriptions which describe the victory of a king or a warrior using the motifs of war poetry.
K. Nachimuthu
Praśasti and Meykkīrtti the Tamil Royal Orders (śāsana).
Study of eulogies in Tamil and Sanskrit in royal copper-plates charters composed in the Tamil country with special reference to Pandya Copper plates.
S.A.S. Sarma & V. Muralidaran
Introducing and reading a Kolar inscription (KI 108) that contains ritual related information.
S. Singh
Archives of Memory: Inscription as Commemoration at Udaypur, part 1
The Udaypur Praśasti is renowned for its genealogy of the Paramāra kings, but its unedited second part gives an account of the local Nemaka lineage. This session will be devoted to deciphering the inscription with the help of photographs and a partial transcript.
Pilgrimage and Procession in a Shared Sacred Space: Temple Inscriptions from Udaypur in Medieval Malwa
The Śiva temple of Udaypur, Madhya Pradesh, founded in 1080, stands today as the only surviving imperial monument of the Paramāra kingdom of Malwa (c. 972–1305). Remarkably, a mosque was built on the temple platform, directly attached to its soaring śikhara, in 1338–39, after the region was annexed to the Sultanate of Delhi (1206–1526). The temple and mosque continued to operate side-by-side as revealed by a series of nāgarī inscriptions recording pilgrims’ participation in processions (jātrā) of the temple deity held during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This new epigraphic evidence for the continuity of temple festivals and their commemoration under Sultanate rule in northern India will be situated in its architectural arena to show how the construction of Hindu-Muslim identities played out through ritual movement in discrete yet adjacent spaces of worship.
Archives of Memory: Inscription as Commemoration at Udaypur, part 2
A Sanskrit inscription dated 1506 CE, in the saṃvat, śaka, and kalyuga eras, offers a unique historical narrative spanning more than four centuries and 22 lines of nāgarī text at the Śiva temple of Udaypur, Madhya Pradesh. Although it was the first inscription to be published from this site, it was soon discredited for its unreliable account of historical events and forgotten in favour of other dated inscriptions. We will read select portions of this unedited inscription with the help of photographs and an available transcript from 1838.
R. Satyanarayanan
Some interesting aspects in Tiruvorriyur inscriptions.
M. Trento
Reading of selected Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai copper plate inscriptions.
U. Veluppillai
Worshipping Tamil manuscripts in medieval Śaiva temples
Reading of selected Tamil inscriptions from Cīrkāḻi and Tiruvīḻimiḻalai recording grants for copying and worshiping manuscripts of Tirumuṟai in the 12-13th centuries.
G. Vijayavenugopal
A methodology for micro level study of Tamil inscriptions in temples
A matha for washermen in Tamilnadu
Reading of selected Tamil inscriptions from Tamilnadu.
A. Wattelier-Bricout
Benedictive and Exhortative Stanzas at the Heart of Religious Making of South and Southeast Asia
Few studies have focused on the Sanskrit benedictive and exhortative stanzas generally found at the end of a land-donation. It is certainly due of their usual and repetitive aspect. However, their omnipresence, including in vernacular texts, and their continuous quotations, also outside the epigraphic corpus, give them the status of common heritage passed down from generation to generation over a very wide area. For this reason, they could have played a key role at the heart of the process of institutionalizing gifts: they are tangible, visible and measurable clues of the circulation and dissemination of concepts and beliefs such as the hell, reincarnation and karma, the aim of which is to preserve and maintain the Dharma bestowed by the gift. Mapping the spreading of these stanzas can help us to better understand the religious making of South and South-East Asia.
In this talk, I will first outline the various research questions that can be addressed by a large-scale analysis of these stanzas. I will then present the methodology envisaged and the resources needed to successfully map their circulation. I will then show the first tools used, discuss some preliminary results and the problems encountered. Finally, I will share some food for thought that could be the topics of a forthcoming thematic workshop.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Emmanuel Francis (August 11, 2023). DHARMA Project Workshop in Pondicherry (August 2023). DHARMA project ERC n° 809994. Retrieved September 17, 2024 from https://doi.org/10.58079/nkhf
