Research Unit at the Akademientag 2023
At the Akademientag, which took place on 7 November and centered around the theme 'What is just? – Conceptions of justice in global comparison,' the Research Unit was represented with a booth exhibiting the history of slavery and the caste system in Nepal. Further information about the event can be found here.
New Publication in the Series "Documenta Nepalica"
Documenta Nepalica Vol. 4heiUP
Wegner, Gert-Matthias, Drumming in Bhaktapur: Music of the Newar People of Nepal, Volume I: Text, Volume II: Transcriptions, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2023 (Documenta Nepalica – Book Series, Vol. 4), DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.1246.
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Preservation of Palm-leaf Documents at the Research Unit
Within the scope of the project "Postcolonial Restitution in the Digital Age: Archiving and Contextualizing a Private Collection of Nepalese Manuscripts," conservators Mark Barnard and Kumiko Matsuoka visited the Research Unit in September 2023 to undertake preservation efforts on medieval palm-leaf rolls from a private collection. This marked the second instance of preservation work conducted at the Research Unit. Previously, in August 2022, Naoko Takagi and Kumiko Matsuoka had visited Heidelberg for a pilot project. In total, 465 rolls were meticulously opened, scanned, and preserved, showcasing an impressive level of efficiency and expertise.
Panel Organized at the European Conference for South Asian Studies (ECSAS) 2023
Members of the Research Unit participated in the four-day long (26–29 July 2023) European Conference for South Asian Studies (ECSAS) at Turin, Italy. During the conference, on 28 July, the Research Unit, together with the Nepal Heritage Documentation Project (NHDP), organized a panel entitled “Stasis and Motion in the Processional Culture of Kathmandu Valley: The Buṅgadyaḥ Yātrā Revisited”. The panel, convened by Christiane Brosius, Manik Bajracharya and Rajan Khatiwoda, consisted of six papers. A list of presenters and their titles are as follow: David Andolfatto, Far-away visitors of Buṅgadyaḥ. The Khaśa Mallas of west Nepal and Newar Buddhism, HCTS/NHDP; Simon Cubelic and Rajan Khatiwoda, Inscriptions on the Move: Materiality, Textuality and Agency in the Epigraphical Culture of the Buṅgadyaḥ Yātrā, HAdW/NHDP; Manik Bajracharya, Luthāma Guthi: Life of an organization serving Buṅgadyaḥ during the 18th—19th centuries, HAdW; Bruce Owens, Constraining Liminality and Performing Culture the Face of Transnational Scrutiny and Shifting Local Sensibilities: The Festival of Buṃgadyaḥ in the Kathmandu Valley, Wheaton College, Dept of Anthropology; Christiane Brosius, Infrastructures of placemaking. Cultural heritage in a transforming city, HCTS/NHDP; Monalisa Maharjan/Bibek Basukala, Constructing identity with the Chariot of Karunamaya. A case of Barahi Guthi from Patan (Nepal), Social Science Baha/NHDP.
Farewell to Dr. Astrid Zotter
The Research Unit bids farewell to Dr. Astrid Zotter. She has served the Research Unit as the Project Coordinator and Deputy Project Leader since its beginning, in 2014. She has recently joined the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology) at Heidelberg University as a tenured faculty member. We express our warm congratulations to her, extend our heartfelt wishes and send our sincere hope for success in her new endeavour.
Project members at the Deutscher Orientalistentag 2022
Project members Simon Cubelic and Astrid Zotter, alongside Nina Mirnig from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, organized the panel titled “Inscriptions as Social Artefacts: Revisiting South Asian Epigraphic Cultures” at the Deutscher Orientalistentag hosted by Free University Berlin. This panel centered on exploring the diverse roles played by inscriptions in shaping spaces, social identities, and political authority within South Asian epigraphic cultures. The panelists included Diwakar Acharya, Georg Berkemer, Simon Cubelic, Valerie Gillet, Timothy Lubin, Nina Mirnig, and Ingo Strauch.
Additionally, as part of the panel “Stiften durch die Jahrtausende” convened by Joachim Friedrich Quack, Simon Cubelic and Astrid Zotter delivered a joint presentation investigating the relationship between state and endowments in 19th-century Nepal. Further details can be found on the conference website.
New Project "Modelling Text Editions as Linked Data (edition2LD)"
The project "Modelling Text Editions as Linked Data (edition2LD)" of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities headed by Dieta Svoboda-Baas and Sabine Tittel is funded by the NFDI consortium Text+. Based on textual data of the Research Unit "Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-Modern Nepal", it aims at developing a largely automated workflow to represent editions as RDF triples which can be reused by other research project.
The Research Unit Welcomes Marija Grujovska as a New Team Member
The Research Unit warmly welcomes Marija Grujovska as the newest addition to the team. Marija joins us to pursue her doctoral research as part of the project. She completed her BA studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Vienna University and earned her MA degree in 'Cultural and Religious History of South Asia' at Heidelberg University. Her dissertation project centers on the administrative history of the Tripureśvara Mahādeva Temple in Kathmandu, spanning from its establishment in the early 19th century to the present day. Her research methodology combines archival exploration with field research methods.
A Short Video Portrait of the Research Unit is Available
We are delighted to share with you a newly crafted brief video portrait of the research unit "Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal" which is now available here.
New Publications in the Series "Documenta Nepalica"
Documenta Nepalica Vol. 3Bajracharya, Manik (Hrsg.), Slavery and Unfree Labour in Nepal: Documents from the 18th to Early 20th Century, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Documenta Nepalica – Book Series, Vol. 3), DOI: 10.17885/heiup.1003. |
HAdW
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Documenta Nepalica Vol. 5Bijay Basukala, Niels Gutschow, Nutandhar Sharma, Patan-Vãbāhā : History and Inventory of a Newar Buddhist Monastery, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Documenta Nepalica – Book Series, Band 5), DOI: 10.17885/heiup.1116. |
HAdW
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Nepal Day 2022 at the Heidelberg University
The South Asia Institute (SAI) organized a two-day event titled "Nepal Day" on July 21st and 22nd, 2022, commemorating 35 years of academic collaboration between SAI and Nepal, as well as the 60th anniversary of SAI.
The event commenced with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Heidelberg and Tribhuvan University, carried out by Rector Prof. Bernhard Eitel and Rector Prof. Shiva Lal Bhusal. Subsequently, there was an introduction of the Nepal delegation and welcome addresses delivered by Prof. Rahul Mukherji, Director of SAI, Rector Prof. Bhusal, and Prof. Christiane Brosius. The inaugural day also featured a discussion between Prof. Niels Gutschow and Prof. Axel Michaels titled "What Have We Learned from Nepal?" Both individuals had their initial visits to Nepal in 1962 and 1972 respectively, and led numerous projects over several years exploring rituals and historical connections.
The "Nepal Day" provided a platform for ongoing Nepal-related projects to showcase their work. These presentations included: the "Nepal Heritage Documentation Project" (presented by Rajan Khatiwoda and Bharat Maharjan), "Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal" by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (presented by Dr. Manik Bajracharya and Dr. Astrid Zotter), "Urban Transformation and Placemaking" (presented by Prof. Christiane Brosius and Sujan Chitrakar), and "Himalayan Socio-Hydrology: Evidence from Nepal" (presented by Prof. Marcus Nüsser and Dr. Susanne Schmidt).
The day continued with lectures by Prof. Sagar Raj Sharma (Kathmandu University) titled "Dilemmas of a Nation in Transition," addressing Nepal's socio-economic and environmental challenges, and by Prof. Martin Gaenszle (University of Vienna) titled "Ethnic Traditions and Global Archives: Changing Research Conditions in Nepal." Prof. Gaenszle's lecture emphasized the evolving potential of ethnographic documentation through digital archives and the accompanying challenges.
On July 22nd, Prof. Brosius moderated a roundtable discussing future cooperation between Heidelberg University, Tribhuvan University, and Kathmandu University.
Conference "Studies on Dharma in the Himalayan Region" in Naples
A two-day conference ("Studies on Dharma in the Himalayan Region") was organized in Naples on April 27th and 28th, 2022, by the Research Unit in collaboration with ERC project "Translocal Identities: The Śivadharma and the Making of Regional Religious Traditions in Premodern South Asia" and the Institute of Asian Studies of the University of Turin. The conference was attended by several scholars and professors from various disciplines, including philology, jurisprudence, anthropology, and South Asian history.
The primary objective of the conference was to explore and expand the multifaceted interpretations of the concept of "dharma," with a specific focus on Nepal from medieval to modern times. During the event, representatives from Heidelberg, Manik Bajracharya and Rajan Khatiwoda, discussed the concept of slavery in the first Nepalese legal code (Ain) of 1854, comparing it with the Hindu legal scriptures, dharmasastras. Simon Cubelic presented on caste and tribute exaction regulated in the Ain of 1854. Axel Michaels' paper delved into King Rana Bahadur Shah’s (ruled 1777—99) manipulation of dharmasastric principles to legitimize his illegitimate actions. Ramhari Timalsina shed light on the resonance of dharmasastras in late 18th- to 19th-century Nepalese legal testimonies. Similarly, Astrid Zotter focused on the tradition of composing dharmanibandhas in late medieval and early modern Nepal.
Nepal as a Focus of the Asian Studies in Heidelberg
The South Asia Institute (SAI) of the Heidelberg University has maintained a branch office in Kathmandu for last 35 years.
As the Managing Director of the South Asia Institute, Prof. Dr. Rahul Mukherji, emphasizes, Nepal has become a focus of Asian studies at Heidelberg University. "Worldwide, there is no such concentration of disciplinary and region-specific competences, research and projects." ...
New Publication
Ute Hüsken, Vasudha Narayanan, Astrid Zotter (edd.), Nine Nights of Power. Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs, SUNY series in Hindu Studies, 2021, ISBN13: 978-1-4384-8407-5 (available as Hardcover, Google eBook and Kindle Edition, s. here). |
SUNY Press
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New Publication of the Book Series "Documenta Nepalica"
Documenta Nepalica Vol. 2Rajan Khatowoda, Simon Cubelic and Axel Michaels (edd.), The Mulukī Ain of 1854. Nepal's First Legal Code, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2021 (Documenta Nepalica – Book Series, Vol. 2), DOI: 10.17885/heiup.769. |
HAdW
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Conference “Workshop on Resources and Technologies for Indigenous, Endangered and Lesser-resourced Languages in Eurasia (EURALI)”
On June 20th the "Workshop on Resources and Technologies for Indigenous, Endangered and Lesser-resourced Languages in Eurasia (EURALI)" took place in Marseille as a part of LREC 2022. Sabine Tittel presented a poster and demonstration called "Towards an Ontology for Toponyms in Nepalese Historical Documents" on a place name ontology for the Documenta Nepalica.
Lecture Series
As part of the lecture series "Asian Religions and the Politics of Heritage", organized by the Südasien-Institut & Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (Website of the series: https://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/IND/en/index.php), the following lectures took place:
"Heritage Politics at the Paśupatinātha Temple in Nepal",
Prof. Dr. Axel Michaels,
Thursday, June 24, 2021, 11:15 a.m., see here.
"Places of Value: Inscriptions as Valorisation Practices at Cultural Heritage Sites in Kathmandu Valley",
Dr. Simon Cubelic,
Thursday, July 8, 2021, 11:15 a.m., see here.
Integration of the first 137 inscriptions from DANAM into Documenta Nepalica
As part of the pilot project “Anthropology of Inscriptions: Memory and Cultural Heritage in the Public Sphere” (HCTS/Flagship Initiative “Transforming Cultural Heritage”) the first batch of inscription catalogue entries from Digital Archive of Nepalese Arts and Monuments (DANAM) was successfully integrated within the Documenta Nepalica database. The dataset of 137 inscriptions from around 60 monuments (recognizable by the identifier “NHDP”) can now be explored within the catalogue of the Documenta Nepalica containing more than 60.000 entries from public and private archives of Nepal. From now on, the inscription catalogue entries will be transferred regularly. The transfer is part of a larger endeavor of both projects to interrelate their databases. This will enable more dynamic and interdisciplinary queries to Nepal’s textual, art historical and intangible heritage. The Documenta Nepalica catalogue search can be accessed here.
Symposium "The Digital Preservation of Asian Manuscripts and Documents" (February 26, 2021)
On February 26, 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 CET, the virtual, international Symposium "The Digital Preservation of Asian Manuscripts and Documents" took place. The symposium was organized in cooperation with the department "Digital Archiving and Research" of the Otani University, Kyoto.