Ute Huesken | Universität Heidelberg (original) (raw)
Papers by Ute Huesken
Religion, 2023
As public performances, festivals celebrate what people believe, who people are, and project what... more As public performances, festivals celebrate what people believe, who
people are, and project what people want to be. Festivals are an
important medium by which cultural, social, and religious identities
are represented and negotiated. This is especially pronounced in
exceptional festival events which require much more improvisational
skills than ‘routine’ festival occasions. This contribution discusses one
such event: In 2019, the Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram
celebrated a rare and long-awaited festival, called ti Atti Varatar
Vaipavam, which takes place only once in 40 years. When the
number of visitors increased in unanticipated ways soon after the
festival started, time-tested ritual rules were suspended, and new
stakeholders started to determine the performance of the festival.
This contribution traces the multiple ways in which the festival’s
mythological background and its performance were contested, and
how the sheer number of attending pilgrims effected long-lasting
changes in the social dynamics among the temple’s stakeholders.
ECSAS2025, 2024
The 28th European Conference for South Asian Studies will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, from... more The 28th European Conference for South Asian Studies will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, from 1st to 4th of October 2025.
The European Conference for South Asian Studies (ECSAS) has met regularly since 1968, and provides an important opportunity to discuss current research and scholarship on topics relating to South Asia within the humanities and social sciences. The ECSAS conferences now operate under the auspices of the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS), a charitable academic association supporting research and teaching concerning South Asia with regard to all periods and fields of study. Panel submissions will open on 24 May 2024 and will close at midnight (CEST) on 24 July 2024.
A panel session runs for 2 hours, and consists of four paper presentations, with an allotted time slot of 30 minutes each (including discussion).
All panel proposals must include: the title of the panel, the name(s), affiliation(s) and the EASAS membership number of the convener(s), a contact e-mail, and a short abstract (300 characters) and long abstract (1700 characters) that explain the panel topic.
The panel abstracts should highlight the innovative elements of the panel. A tentative list of presenters and their email addresses must also be included to demonstrate the viability of the panel.
Please note that all panel proposals and presentations will be in English.
Apply here: https://ecsas2025.com/call-for-panels/
TEMPLES, TEXTS, AND NETWORKS: SOUTH INDIAN PERSPECTIVES, 2022
The Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram is visited by hundreds of pilgrims every day. Many pilgrims ... more The Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram is visited by hundreds of pilgrims every day. Many pilgrims visit this temple mainly to see and touch a high relief of the “golden lizards” on the ceiling in the north-eastern corner of the corridor (prākāra) around the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Even
though hardly any of the pilgrims today would want to miss these lizards, and many even specifically visit this temple to see and touch them, it is particularly striking that most publications on the Varadarāja temple and its architecture hardly mention them at all.
Post Doc Position available in Heidelberg (Indology), 2022
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is a non-university research institution in Hei... more The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is a non-university research institution in Heidelberg, Germany. It conducts basic research with a focus on cultural studies and humanities with more than twenty research projects and over 200 employees. The research project "Hindu Temple Legends in South India" is inviting applications for the following full-time position: Postdoctoral Scholar in Indology (f/m/d) The long-term research project "Hindu Temple Legends in South India" is committed to producing digital editions and annotated translations of the corpus of Sanskrit and Tamil mythological texts (sthalamāhātmyas/ talapurāṇams) relating to the South Indian city of Kanchipuram. The project will commence in September 2022 and is scheduled to run until 2037.
The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership The works... more The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership in South Asian religious traditions. in South Asian religious traditions.
Afterword: On the efficacy of ‘blasphemy', 2019
The volume "Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia" is a very ambitiou... more The volume "Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia" is a very ambitious project. It explores the sharp rise of blasphemy accusations in the twenty-first century, specifically those occurring in countries which were formerly under British colonial rule and thus inherited the Indian Penal Code. Six ‘blasphemy’ cases from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are discussed in depth, while the historically and theoretically well-informed Introduction casts a wide net and pulls the threads together.
Aiming to look beyond single case studies and country-specific developments, both the Introduction and individual contributors address
the common question: why has there been such an intensification of
allegations of hurt religious sentiments, desecration and sacrilege? This
Afterword analyses the ‘blasphemy’ cases presented in this volume from
the angle of Ritual Studies. In so doing, it does not claim that blasphemy
cases are rituals. Rather, looking at these cases as rituals helps us to better understand how they work (efficacy), including who or what are the driving factors in these processes (agency) and how these processes are related to or disconnected from individual intentions, irrespective of the specific local, historical and social setting.
Course announcement: LIVED SANSKRIT CULTURES IN VARANASI (Feb 17th to March 6th, 2020) - apply now!
Areas of study: Teaching Sanskrit and the Veda • Performing Rituals • Processions in Varanasi • G... more Areas of study: Teaching Sanskrit and the Veda • Performing Rituals • Processions in Varanasi • Goddess Temples in Varanasi • Indian Calendrical Systems • A Crash Course in Spoken Sanskrit
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India designed to impart practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focusing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi.
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training ... more A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focusing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi.
Course fee: 890 Euro Includes accommodation in double room, breakfast and dinner and local transport • Extra cost for single room accommodation: 500 Euro
Paying special attention to the representation of the goddess vis-à-vis diverse feminine ideals a... more Paying special attention to the representation of the goddess vis-à-vis diverse feminine ideals and to the relationship of gender and power, this chapter first looks into the Navarātri celebrations at the Vaiṣṇava Varadarāja Perumāḷ temple in Kāñcipuram, where the ritual prescriptions of the normative texts are followed meticulously. Here, the role of the main goddess of the temple is rather passive when compared to the corresponding Navarātri celebrations in goddess Kāmākṣī's temple in Kāñcipuram. However, when focusing on the actual performances of the Varadarāja Temple one detects many ritual similarities between the two traditions, accounting for shared cultural values informing the festival performances independent from sectarian affiliation. Varadarāja's and Kāmākṣī's roles within the festival in Kāñcipuram complement each other. Even though there is no direct interaction between the two deities during the annual ritual calendar, Navarātri defines the sacred space of
Kāñcipuram as one ritual arena, in which only Varadarāja's and Kāmākṣī's performances together make the festival complete.
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training ... more A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focussing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi. Course fee: 890 Euro Includes accommodation in double room, breakfast and dinner and local transport. See http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/IND/en/hdsanskrit/2019_varanasi.php
upcoming workshop at the South Asia Institute (Heidelberg University)
In: Saddharmāmṛtam. Festschrift für Jens-Uwe Hartmann zum 65. Geburtstag. Oliver von Criegern, Gu... more In: Saddharmāmṛtam. Festschrift für Jens-Uwe Hartmann zum 65. Geburtstag. Oliver von Criegern, Gudrun Melzer und Johannes Schneider (eds.). Wien: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, Heft 93), pp. 215-230.
This essay deals with gender, i. e. particular forms of social differences following biological differences, as they are represented by early Buddhist texts, especially in the texts containing Buddhist monastic discipline (vinaya). These representations of gender do not stand isolated but closely interact with then prevalent beliefs about gender, masculinity and femininity. Importantly , these beliefs need not conform to Buddhist soteriology, since one main aim of the Vinaya is to secure the smooth functioning of the monastic community within its social context.
This chapter of the Festschrift dedicated to Jens E, Braarvig looks at the relationship of text a... more This chapter of the Festschrift dedicated to Jens E, Braarvig looks at the relationship of text and practice in the process of the establishment of Theravāda nuns’ communities (bhikkhunīsaṅgha) in Europe and the
USA. In this process not only linguistic gaps are to be bridged. I point out some ways in which the translation of text into practice in this context necessarily encompasses processes of transformation, or transcreation.
Faced in 1688 with imminent invasion by the troops of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the festival ... more Faced in 1688 with imminent invasion by the troops of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the festival images of the three main temples in Kaficipuram were removed from the town, with only two destined to return in the eighteenth century. This event and its consequences not only significantly changed the ritual schedules of these communities, but also had an impact on the power dynamics within and between the three temples. The flight and return of these important images provides the focus for this study of how even today devotees remember, interpret and debate through ritual the significant historical and mythological moments of this holy city's layered landscape.
How are ritual and emotions connected? My reflections on this question are based on emotionS-that... more How are ritual and emotions connected? My reflections on this question are based on emotionS-that are displayed, what I will refer to as exteriorized emotions, during rituals by the people with whom I work in Kaflcipuram. 1 I will also refer to my own emotions while engaging with the people and the rituals in the Varadaraja temple in this small South Indian town.
Acknowledgements We wish to express our gratitude to the Deutschc Forschungsgemeinschaft and the ... more Acknowledgements We wish to express our gratitude to the Deutschc Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Heidelberg collaborative research center "The Dynamics of Ritual" for funding a workshop of our working group, and for inviting Utc Hiiskcn for six months as guest researcher to work on the project. We also thank Oslo University for its contribution to the project. Finally, wc arc grateful to Douglas Fear and Bao Do for their help in editing the volume. Cover illustration: Detail of Ballygunge Cultural Club Panda! during Durgapuja in Kolkata 2013; photograph: Ute Hiisken Bibliografischc Information der Dcutschcn Nationalbibliothek Die Deutschc Nationalbibliothck verzcichnct diose Publikation in der Deutschen N;uionalbibliografic; dctaillierte bibliografi schc Oaten sind im Internet iiber http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar.
Religion, 2023
As public performances, festivals celebrate what people believe, who people are, and project what... more As public performances, festivals celebrate what people believe, who
people are, and project what people want to be. Festivals are an
important medium by which cultural, social, and religious identities
are represented and negotiated. This is especially pronounced in
exceptional festival events which require much more improvisational
skills than ‘routine’ festival occasions. This contribution discusses one
such event: In 2019, the Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram
celebrated a rare and long-awaited festival, called ti Atti Varatar
Vaipavam, which takes place only once in 40 years. When the
number of visitors increased in unanticipated ways soon after the
festival started, time-tested ritual rules were suspended, and new
stakeholders started to determine the performance of the festival.
This contribution traces the multiple ways in which the festival’s
mythological background and its performance were contested, and
how the sheer number of attending pilgrims effected long-lasting
changes in the social dynamics among the temple’s stakeholders.
ECSAS2025, 2024
The 28th European Conference for South Asian Studies will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, from... more The 28th European Conference for South Asian Studies will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, from 1st to 4th of October 2025.
The European Conference for South Asian Studies (ECSAS) has met regularly since 1968, and provides an important opportunity to discuss current research and scholarship on topics relating to South Asia within the humanities and social sciences. The ECSAS conferences now operate under the auspices of the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS), a charitable academic association supporting research and teaching concerning South Asia with regard to all periods and fields of study. Panel submissions will open on 24 May 2024 and will close at midnight (CEST) on 24 July 2024.
A panel session runs for 2 hours, and consists of four paper presentations, with an allotted time slot of 30 minutes each (including discussion).
All panel proposals must include: the title of the panel, the name(s), affiliation(s) and the EASAS membership number of the convener(s), a contact e-mail, and a short abstract (300 characters) and long abstract (1700 characters) that explain the panel topic.
The panel abstracts should highlight the innovative elements of the panel. A tentative list of presenters and their email addresses must also be included to demonstrate the viability of the panel.
Please note that all panel proposals and presentations will be in English.
Apply here: https://ecsas2025.com/call-for-panels/
TEMPLES, TEXTS, AND NETWORKS: SOUTH INDIAN PERSPECTIVES, 2022
The Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram is visited by hundreds of pilgrims every day. Many pilgrims ... more The Varadarāja temple in Kanchipuram is visited by hundreds of pilgrims every day. Many pilgrims visit this temple mainly to see and touch a high relief of the “golden lizards” on the ceiling in the north-eastern corner of the corridor (prākāra) around the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Even
though hardly any of the pilgrims today would want to miss these lizards, and many even specifically visit this temple to see and touch them, it is particularly striking that most publications on the Varadarāja temple and its architecture hardly mention them at all.
Post Doc Position available in Heidelberg (Indology), 2022
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is a non-university research institution in Hei... more The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is a non-university research institution in Heidelberg, Germany. It conducts basic research with a focus on cultural studies and humanities with more than twenty research projects and over 200 employees. The research project "Hindu Temple Legends in South India" is inviting applications for the following full-time position: Postdoctoral Scholar in Indology (f/m/d) The long-term research project "Hindu Temple Legends in South India" is committed to producing digital editions and annotated translations of the corpus of Sanskrit and Tamil mythological texts (sthalamāhātmyas/ talapurāṇams) relating to the South Indian city of Kanchipuram. The project will commence in September 2022 and is scheduled to run until 2037.
The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership The works... more The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership The workshop serves as a forum for discussion of female religious and ritual leadership in South Asian religious traditions. in South Asian religious traditions.
Afterword: On the efficacy of ‘blasphemy', 2019
The volume "Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia" is a very ambitiou... more The volume "Outrage: The Rise of Religious Offence in Contemporary South Asia" is a very ambitious project. It explores the sharp rise of blasphemy accusations in the twenty-first century, specifically those occurring in countries which were formerly under British colonial rule and thus inherited the Indian Penal Code. Six ‘blasphemy’ cases from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are discussed in depth, while the historically and theoretically well-informed Introduction casts a wide net and pulls the threads together.
Aiming to look beyond single case studies and country-specific developments, both the Introduction and individual contributors address
the common question: why has there been such an intensification of
allegations of hurt religious sentiments, desecration and sacrilege? This
Afterword analyses the ‘blasphemy’ cases presented in this volume from
the angle of Ritual Studies. In so doing, it does not claim that blasphemy
cases are rituals. Rather, looking at these cases as rituals helps us to better understand how they work (efficacy), including who or what are the driving factors in these processes (agency) and how these processes are related to or disconnected from individual intentions, irrespective of the specific local, historical and social setting.
Course announcement: LIVED SANSKRIT CULTURES IN VARANASI (Feb 17th to March 6th, 2020) - apply now!
Areas of study: Teaching Sanskrit and the Veda • Performing Rituals • Processions in Varanasi • G... more Areas of study: Teaching Sanskrit and the Veda • Performing Rituals • Processions in Varanasi • Goddess Temples in Varanasi • Indian Calendrical Systems • A Crash Course in Spoken Sanskrit
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India designed to impart practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focusing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi.
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training ... more A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focusing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi.
Course fee: 890 Euro Includes accommodation in double room, breakfast and dinner and local transport • Extra cost for single room accommodation: 500 Euro
Paying special attention to the representation of the goddess vis-à-vis diverse feminine ideals a... more Paying special attention to the representation of the goddess vis-à-vis diverse feminine ideals and to the relationship of gender and power, this chapter first looks into the Navarātri celebrations at the Vaiṣṇava Varadarāja Perumāḷ temple in Kāñcipuram, where the ritual prescriptions of the normative texts are followed meticulously. Here, the role of the main goddess of the temple is rather passive when compared to the corresponding Navarātri celebrations in goddess Kāmākṣī's temple in Kāñcipuram. However, when focusing on the actual performances of the Varadarāja Temple one detects many ritual similarities between the two traditions, accounting for shared cultural values informing the festival performances independent from sectarian affiliation. Varadarāja's and Kāmākṣī's roles within the festival in Kāñcipuram complement each other. Even though there is no direct interaction between the two deities during the annual ritual calendar, Navarātri defines the sacred space of
Kāñcipuram as one ritual arena, in which only Varadarāja's and Kāmākṣī's performances together make the festival complete.
A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training ... more A three week intensive course in Varanasi, India Designed to impart a practice oriented training in methods of cultural and religious studies focussing on how Sanskrit texts are taught, applied, enacted, inscribed in spaces and lived by practitioners, women and men, in Varanasi. Course fee: 890 Euro Includes accommodation in double room, breakfast and dinner and local transport. See http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/IND/en/hdsanskrit/2019_varanasi.php
upcoming workshop at the South Asia Institute (Heidelberg University)
In: Saddharmāmṛtam. Festschrift für Jens-Uwe Hartmann zum 65. Geburtstag. Oliver von Criegern, Gu... more In: Saddharmāmṛtam. Festschrift für Jens-Uwe Hartmann zum 65. Geburtstag. Oliver von Criegern, Gudrun Melzer und Johannes Schneider (eds.). Wien: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, Heft 93), pp. 215-230.
This essay deals with gender, i. e. particular forms of social differences following biological differences, as they are represented by early Buddhist texts, especially in the texts containing Buddhist monastic discipline (vinaya). These representations of gender do not stand isolated but closely interact with then prevalent beliefs about gender, masculinity and femininity. Importantly , these beliefs need not conform to Buddhist soteriology, since one main aim of the Vinaya is to secure the smooth functioning of the monastic community within its social context.
This chapter of the Festschrift dedicated to Jens E, Braarvig looks at the relationship of text a... more This chapter of the Festschrift dedicated to Jens E, Braarvig looks at the relationship of text and practice in the process of the establishment of Theravāda nuns’ communities (bhikkhunīsaṅgha) in Europe and the
USA. In this process not only linguistic gaps are to be bridged. I point out some ways in which the translation of text into practice in this context necessarily encompasses processes of transformation, or transcreation.
Faced in 1688 with imminent invasion by the troops of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the festival ... more Faced in 1688 with imminent invasion by the troops of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the festival images of the three main temples in Kaficipuram were removed from the town, with only two destined to return in the eighteenth century. This event and its consequences not only significantly changed the ritual schedules of these communities, but also had an impact on the power dynamics within and between the three temples. The flight and return of these important images provides the focus for this study of how even today devotees remember, interpret and debate through ritual the significant historical and mythological moments of this holy city's layered landscape.
How are ritual and emotions connected? My reflections on this question are based on emotionS-that... more How are ritual and emotions connected? My reflections on this question are based on emotionS-that are displayed, what I will refer to as exteriorized emotions, during rituals by the people with whom I work in Kaflcipuram. 1 I will also refer to my own emotions while engaging with the people and the rituals in the Varadaraja temple in this small South Indian town.
Acknowledgements We wish to express our gratitude to the Deutschc Forschungsgemeinschaft and the ... more Acknowledgements We wish to express our gratitude to the Deutschc Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Heidelberg collaborative research center "The Dynamics of Ritual" for funding a workshop of our working group, and for inviting Utc Hiiskcn for six months as guest researcher to work on the project. We also thank Oslo University for its contribution to the project. Finally, wc arc grateful to Douglas Fear and Bao Do for their help in editing the volume. Cover illustration: Detail of Ballygunge Cultural Club Panda! during Durgapuja in Kolkata 2013; photograph: Ute Hiisken Bibliografischc Information der Dcutschcn Nationalbibliothek Die Deutschc Nationalbibliothck verzcichnct diose Publikation in der Deutschen N;uionalbibliografic; dctaillierte bibliografi schc Oaten sind im Internet iiber http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar.
![Research paper thumbnail of Laughter, Creativity, and Perseverance: Female Agency in Buddhism and Hinduism [Ute Hüsken (ed.)] with contributions by](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/94029027/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Laughter, Creativity, and Perseverance: Female Agency in Buddhism and Hinduism, 2022
In most mainstream traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, women have for centuries largely been exc... more In most mainstream traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, women have for centuries largely been excluded from positions of religious and ritual leadership. However, as this volume shows, in an increasing number of late-20th-century and early-21st-century contexts, women can and do undergo monastic and priestly education; they can receive ordination/initiation as Buddhist nuns or Hindu priestesses; and they are accepted as religious and political leaders. Even though these processes still largely take place outside or at the margins of traditional religious institutions, it is clear that women are actually establishing new religious trends and currents. They are attracting followers, and they are occupying religious positions on par with men. At times women are filling a void left behind by male religious specialists who left the profession, at times they are perceived as their rivals. In some cases, this process takes place in collaboration with male religious specialists, in others against the will of the women's male counterparts. However, in most cases we see both, acceptance and resistance. Whether silently or with great fanfare, women grasp new opportunities to occupy positions of leadership. Ten in-depth case studies analyzing culturally, historically and geographically unique situations explore the historical background, contemporary trajectories, and impact of the emergence of new powerful female agencies in mostly conservative Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions.
Temples, Texts, and Networks, 2022
Temples, Texts, and Networks: South Indian Perspectives, ed. by Malini Ambach, Jonas Buchholz and... more Temples, Texts, and Networks: South Indian Perspectives, ed. by Malini Ambach, Jonas Buchholz and Ute Hüsken. Heidelberg: Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing, 2022. ISBN 978-3-948791-22-3(HC), ISBN 978-3-948791-23-0, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/hasp.906
For many centuries, Hindu temples and shrines have been of great importance to South Indian religious, social and political life. Aside from being places of worship, they are also pilgrimage destinations, centres of learning, political hotspots, and foci of economic activities. In these tem¬ples, not only the human and the divine interact, but they are also meeting places of different members of the communities, be they local or coming from afar. Hindu temples do not exist in isolation, but stand in multiple re¬lationships to other temples and sacred sites. They relate to each other in terms of architecture, ritual, or mythology, or on a conceptual level when particular sites are grouped together. Especially in urban centres, multiple temples representing different religious traditions may coexist within a shared sacred space. The current volume pays close attention to the con¬nections between individual Hindu temples and the affiliated communities, be it within a particular place or on a trans-local level. These connections are described as “temple networks,” a concept which instead of stable hierarchies and structures looks at nodal, multi-centred, and fluid systems, in which the connections in numerous fields of interaction are understood as dynamic processes.