Panel presentation :

The panel discusses the representation of the body and embodied practices in religious and literary texts as well as in the media in South Asian traditions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE up to present-day (2010). The papers will focus on the conceptions of the body in ritual, mystic, devotional and political contexts, on the relations and types of communication between the bodies of humans and the embodied figures, as well as on the links between religion, ideology and the representations of the body in written and visual forms. The fields of inquiry include bhakti, kingship rituals, gender, difference, politics, power and identity. Significant points of discussion are the role that the concept of the body and the processes of embodiment play in ritual and worship and the importance of their social and political implications. The discussions will contribute to our understanding of the interrelations between religion, ideology, the body and embodied practices. The papers are based on methodological analysis of written and visual texts that have their origin in South Asia.