7 January 2010,
5 pm
Release of the book ‘Vaikunta Perumal Temple’ Interpreted by D. Dennis Hudson Dr.Romila Thapar will deliver
the 3rd D.Dennis Hudson Memorial Annual Lecture on
Venue: At Kalakshetra Koothambalam About the Book: D.Dennis Hudson's path breaking book presents his extraordinary interpretation of the Vaikunta Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram as a three dimensional mandala. His insight, based on Tirumangai Alvar's poetry and a close study of the Bhagavatha Purana illumines layers of meaning embodied in the architecture and sculpture of this temple. This volume is a "summary interpretation" for the general reader, of a larger academic work entitled The Body of God, published in the USA. It is the inspired response of a scholar who has been passionately involved with his subject for several decades. About the Author: D.Dennis Hudson taught about India at the Department of Religion at Smith College in the USA for thirty years. He first came to India in 1960 and became deeply interested in India's religions and culture. For almost half a century his scholarly engagement with India led him to a study of this country's temple culture with special reference to Tamil Nadu. We at Prakriti Foundation became close to Dennis Hudson when he sent his paper for our Andal Today conference in 2001 and subsequent lectures he gave us and the guided tour of Vaikunta Perumal Temple on a Vaikunta Ekadasi. Professor Romila Thapar, born November 30, 1931, is a distinguished historian who is an internationally acknowledged expert in the ancient Indian history. After graduating from Punjab University, she proceeded to London where she earned both her B.A. and Ph.D degrees of London University where she was also a Lecturer in South Asian History during 1959-1961. Later she taught at Kurukshetra and Delhi Universities and was Professor of Ancient Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Dr. Thapar was elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1959 and corresponding Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1980. She was President of the Ancient Indian History Section at the Indian History Congress in 1969 and was Distinguished Visiting Professor at Cornell University in 1979. She Dr. Thapar is a Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and a National Fellow of the Indian Council for Social Science Research and was a McDonnell Distinguished Scholar at the United Nations University, Helsinki in 1990. Professor Romila Thapar has written several books which include "Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas" (Oxford, 1961), "A History of India" (Penguin Books, 1966), and also NCERT model history text books for school. |
