Advanced Hindu Studies: Introduction @HinduStudies

Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

THE INFINITE MIRROR: How Vasiṣṭha’s Stories Offer a Taste of Liberation, by Aamir Kaderbhai

$GIVER of DEATH, GIVER of LIFE a talk by Utsa Bose, DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford Pandemics have been an ancient scourge of mankind. Across time and space, these scourges have been imagined, interpreted and imagined differently, refracted by the prism of culture and religion. This talk explores some representations of pandemics as goddesses in the Indic tradition. With a focus on Bengal, this talk will mainly explore three goddesses / pandemic imaginaries: Worship of Sitala (the smallpox deity), Olabibi (the Muslim matron of cholera, worshipped often by Hindus and Muslims in Bengal alike) and Kali(whose worship ebbs and flows through different epidemic periods). As a conclusion, it will also explore some of the ways in which COVID-19 was also refracted through the goddess imaginaries. In doing so, it will make a case for the endurance, relevance and adaptability of Indic traditions, especially in times of pandemic panics and epidemic crisis. Utsa Bose is a DPhil candidate in History at Somerville College. His DPhil project focuses on a sociocultural history of epidemics, pandemics and endemics in colonial South Asia, particularly the plague pandemic in Calcutta. Among his areas of research are the histories of health, medicine, science and religion.$

Prof. Mandakranta Bose - Divinity and Femininity: Śakti in the World

Is Hindu Culture Relevant? by Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Mediating verticality in community – Revd Joseph Simmons SJ

Day 1 Talk 2: Śrīvidyopāsana heritage of Kerala – A talk by M Satheesh Bhattathiri

27. 2021-08-24 - Bhagavadgītā readings with Dr Nick Sutton - Chapter 18, Verse 47

Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies |

Advanced Hindu Studies: Introduction