After having an excellent time in Durham this past spring, we have provisional details for 2019 and 2020:

The 2019 Symposium will take place in Lancaster, 12th-14th April, with the theme of Gender. A call for papers will be circulated in August, and further details will be posted on the website.

The 2020 Symposium will be held in Edinburgh, dates tbc (but in April sometime), with the theme of Comparison(s).

After these two symposia, we will be looking for a new person (or people) to take on the running of the symposium. If anyone is interested in becoming the convenor, secretary or treasurer from 2020, or in finding out more about these roles, please let me know: naomi.appleton@ed.ac.uk.

Booking is now closed, and we are all looking forward to the event. Registered participants will receive a copy of the Abstracts book and some helpful information about the venues etc by email next week. Here is the final schedule:

Friday 13^th April

1.30pm            Introduction and welcome

1.45-3.00pm   Opening keynote: Professor Kunal Chakrabarti (JNU)- ‘Laksmi’s Other: Brahmanical Construction of a Negative Goddess’

3.00-3.30pm    Tea and coffee

3.30-4.30pm   Prof. Elizabeth M. Rohlman (University of Calgary) – ‘Regions and Regionality in the Mahāpurāṇas: The Literary Cultures and Religious Communities of Western India in the Markāṇdeya Purāṇa’

4.30-5.30pm   Dr Marzenna Jakubczak (Pedagogical University of Cracow) – ‘Non-theistic devotion in the classical and neo-classical Sāṃkhya and Yoga

5.30-7.00pm   Dinner at Lebeneat Restaurant

7.00-8.00pm   Dr Brian Black (Lancaster University) and Dr Naomi Appleton (University of Edinburgh) – ‘Teaching Indian Religions in Schools’

Saturday 14^th April

9.00-10.00am Dr Christopher V. Jones (University of Oxford) – ‘Mystery and Secrecy in the Mahāyāna: A Shared Theme in the ‘Lotus’ and ‘Nirvāṇa’ Sūtras’

10.00-11.00am Prof. Natalie Gummer (Beloit College, Wisconsin) – ‘Reassessing Rasa: Sūtras, Sovereignty, and the Ritual Substance of Speech’

11.00-11.30am Tea and coffee

11.30-1.00pm Postgraduate papers

Sophie Barker (Lancaster University) – ‘“Why Would I Want to Get Married?” Negotiating Permission for Renunciation in the Therīgāthā’

Sayori Ghoshal (Columbia University NY) – ‘Locating Race in the Question of Religion in modern India’

Güzin A. Yener (University of Oxford) – ‘Practices of Kurukullā: Feminine Wisdom of Love, Power and Magic in Tibetan Buddhism’

1.00-3.00pm Lunch and then free time to explore the city

3.00-4.00pm   Postgraduate papers

Durga Kale (University of Calgary) – ‘Whole Cosmos in Her Bosom: The Making of a Multifarious Deity in Coastal Maharashtra’

Zuzana Špicová (Charles University, Prague) – ‘“He Never Touched the Ground”: Bhīṣma’s Two Falls’

4.00-4.30pm    Tea and coffee

4.30-5.30pm   Dr Elizabeth Cecil (Leiden University) and Dr Laxshmi Greaves (Independent Researcher, Cardiff) – ‘Adorning the Lord with Garlands: 
Liṅga Worship as Lived Religion in the Images of Early North India’

5.30-6.30pm   Durham roundtable discussion featuring:

Rachel Barclay (Curator, Oriental Museum)

Robin Coningham (UNESCO Professor, Archaeology)

Yulia Egorova (Reader, Anthropology)

Jonathan Miles-Watson (Associate Professor, Theology and Religion)

Tanju Sen (Community Engagement Officer, Oriental Museum)

7.00pm            Dinner at Claypath deli then evening of socialising

Sunday 15^th April

9.00-10.00am  Dr Mikel Burley (University of Leeds) – ‘Dance of the Deodhās: Divine Possession, Blood Sacrifice and the Grotesque Body in Assamese Goddess Worship’

10.00-11.00am Dr Garima Kaushik (Nalanda University) – ‘Socio–economic imperatives in the emergence of the Sapta Matrikas Iconography’

11.00-11.30am Tea and coffee

11.30-12.45     Closing keynote: Professor (Emerita) Eleanor Nesbitt (University of Warwick) – ‘Idolatry and ethnography: reflections on two centuries of western women’s writing about Sikhs’

12.45-1.00pm Closing remarks

1.00-2.00pm   Lunch and then departure

Booking is now open for the 2018 Symposium, which will take place at Hatfield College, University of Durham, on 13th-15th April. We are delighted to announce our keynote speakers:
– Kunal Chakrabarti, Professor of Ancient Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNR), Delhi, and
– Eleanor Nesbitt, Professor Emeritus at the University of Warwick.

A provisional programme is below.

Bookings can be made via the following link: https://www.dur.ac.uk/conference.booking/details/?id=877

There are, as usual, two booking rates: £95 unresidential (conference attendance and refreshments only) and £185 residential (including two nights B&B)

Provisional programme:

Friday 13^th April

1.30pm                        Introduction and welcome

1.45-3.00pm   Opening keynote: Professor Kunal Chakrabarti (JNU)- ‘Laksmi’s Other: Brahmanical Construction of a Negative Goddess’

3.00-3.30pm   Tea and coffee

3.30-4.30pm   Elizabeth M. Rohlman (University of Calgary) – ‘Regions and Regionality in the Mahāpurāṇas: The Literary Cultures and Religious Communities of Western India in the Markāṇdeya Purāṇa’

4.30-5.30pm   Dr Marzenna Jakubczak (Krakow) – ‘Non-theistic devotion in the classical and neo-classical Sāṃkhya and Yoga’

5.30-7.00pm   Dinner at Lebeneat Restaurant

7.00-8.00pm   After dinner paper or entertainment tbc

Saturday 14^th April

9.00-10.00am Dr Christopher V. Jones (University of Oxford) – ‘Mystery and Secrecy in the Mahāyāna: A Shared Theme in the ‘Lotus’ and ‘Nirvāṇa’ Sūtras’

10.00-11.00am Prof. Natalie Gummer (Beloit College, Wisconsin) – ‘Reassessing Rasa: Sūtras, Sovereignty, and the Ritual Substance of Speech’

11.00-11.30am Tea and coffee

11.30am-1.00pm Postgraduate papers

Sophie Barker (Lancaster University) – ‘“Why Would I Want to Get Married?” Negotiating Permission for Renunciation in the Therīgāthā’

Sayori Ghoshal (Columbia University NY) – ‘Locating Race in the Question of Religion in modern India’

Güzin A. Yener (University of Oxford) – ‘Practices of Kurukullā: Feminine Wisdom of Love, Power and Magic in Tibetan Buddhism’

1.00-3.00pm Lunch and then free time to explore the city

3.00-4.00 Postgraduate papers

Durga Kale (University of Calgary) – ‘Whole Cosmos in Her Bosom: The Making of a Multifarious Deity in Coastal Maharashtra’

Zuzana Špicová (Charles University, Prague) – ‘“He Never Touched the Ground”: Bhīṣma’s Two Falls’

4.00-4.30pm Tea and coffee

4.30-5.30pm Dr Elizabeth Cecil (Leiden University) and Dr Laxshmi Greaves (Independent Researcher, Cardiff) – ‘Adorning the Lord with Garlands: 
Liṅga Worship as Lived Religion in the Images of Early North India’

5.30-6.30pm Showcase of Durham speakers

7.00pm Dinner at Claypath deli then evening of socialising

Sunday 15^th April

9.00-10.00am Dr Mikel Burley (University of Leeds) – ‘Dance of the Deodhās: Divine Possession, Blood Sacrifice and the Grotesque Body in Assamese Goddess Worship’

10.00-11.00am Garima Kaushik (Nalanda University) – still to confirm due to funding investigations underway, but positive/confident – ‘Socio–economic imperatives in the emergence of the Sapta Matrikas Iconography’ 

11.00-11.30am Tea and coffee

11.30am-12.45pm Closing keynote: Professor (Emerita) Eleanor Nesbitt (University of Warwick) – ‘Sikhs through the eyes of western women 1809 to 2012’

12.45-1.00pm Closing remarks

1.00-2.00pm   Lunch and then departure

We invite proposals for papers for the 43rd Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, which will be held at Durham University, on 13th-15th April 2018.

There is no theme this year, and so we welcome papers that address any aspect of the religions of South Asia, based upon any research methods, including textual, historical, ethnographic, sociological and philosophical.

Presenters are allocated forty minutes for their paper and twenty minutes for discussion, and will normally be expected to pay their own conference registration and expenses. The Symposium fee, including food and accommodation, is predicted to be £185, with a non-residential rate of £90. Registration details will be released in the new year. Limited financial assistance may be available for early career scholars or scholars from South Asia. If your participation depends upon such support please indicate this when you submit your abstract.

We also welcome proposals from doctoral students, who will be allocated twenty minutes for their paper and ten minutes for discussion, and offered free registration at the Symposium (including accommodation).

We are delighted to announce our keynote speakers: Kunal Chakrabarti, Professor of Ancient Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, and Eleanor Nesbitt, Professor Emeritus at the University of Warwick. Professor Chakrabarti will offer us a paper entitled ‘Laksmi’s Other: Brahmanical Construction of a Negative Goddess’, while Professor Nesbitt will speak on ‘Sikhs through the eyes of western women 1809 to 2012’.

If you would like to give a paper, please send a title and abstract (maximum 500 words) to Dr Naomi Appleton, naomi.appleton@ed.ac.uk, by Friday 10^th November 2017.

There are still some places available for our upcoming Symposium but please make sure we have received your booking by 22nd March.

Booking is now open for the 2017 Symposium, which will take place at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, on 7th-9th April. The draft programme is listed below.

There are two booking rates:

The non-residential rate is £80 and this includes dinner Friday and Saturday, lunch Saturday and Sunday, and tea/coffee throughout.

The residential rate is £190 and this includes all of the above plus bed & breakfast in an en-suite single room in college for Friday and Saturday nights.

If you wish to attend but have no access to institutional funds to support your attendance please contact our Treasurer Dr Nick Swann (nick.swann [AT] southwales.ac.uk) as there is some financial support available. Priority will be given to PhD students and early career scholars.

The easiest way to pay is via PayPal by clicking the “buy now” button beneath the appropriate rate below. If you prefer to pay by cheque, this should be made payable to “The Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions” and sent to: Dr Nick Swann, Senior Lecturer – Religious Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of South Wales, Treforest Campus, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, UK. Please also contact Nick if you need to pay by direct bank transfer.

Please book early to facilitate planning and especially if you wish to reserve accommodation as this is limited.

If you wish to reserve accommodation for extra nights or have any other queries about the Symposium please contact Dr Naomi Appleton – naomi.appleton [AT] ed.ac.uk

**Booking is now closed**