Events

Past Event

Workshop in the History of Material Texts: Neeraja Poddar (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

October 12, 2020
5:15 PM - 7:15 PM
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Columbia University Faculty House

ABSTRACT

 "The Philadelphia Museum of Art's Gosainkund Painting: Visualizing
the Routes and Sites of Pilgrimage in Nepal."

This talk is the result of research that began five years ago, when I was
part of the team reinstalling the South Asian galleries at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. I was asked to write a label of about 50-100 words for a
pilgrimage painting in the collection, and realized I would need many more
words to discuss the spectacular, multi-layered, and unique object. The
painting depicts pilgrims walking winding paths, fording fast-flowing
rivers, and climbing steep cliffs as they make their way through the
Kathmandu Valley to the holy lake of Gosainkund in the north; the landscape
is dotted with numerous temples, sacred pools and fountains, monasteries,
stupas, and shrines. In my talk, I suggest how the painting might function
as a sacred map that invites viewers to undertake a pilgrimage to the holy
lake, or any other site of their choosing. In order to examine the
painting, viewers must walk along its length, emulating the bodily
movements of the pilgrims who make the journey through the valley. And, I
propose that, like the pilgrims, viewers are able to accrue religious merit
by worshiping at the holy lake?the remnants of ritual substances sprinkled
on the painting are still visible, transforming it into an icon and making
it a potent stand-in for a physical pilgrimage.

About the Speaker

Neeraja Poddar is The Ira Brind and Stacey Spector Associate Curator of
South Asian Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has published on
illustrated manuscripts from early modern South Asia and recently guest
edited an issue of *Manuscript Studies* on manuscript variations. Her
curatorial projects include *Mewar Photographs, 1857-1947: A Glimpse into
the Archive* at The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, and the reinstallation of
the South Asian galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Poddar?s
research has been supported by The Clark Art Institute, the Oxford Centre
for Hindu Studies, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the C. V. Starr
Foundation, and Columbia University.

Details


Please join us for our next meeting of the 2020-2021 Workshop in the
History of Material Texts. We will convene over Zoom on Monday, October
12th at 5:15 PM (ET). You can access the workshop through the following
Zoom link:
https://upenn.zoom.us/j/97426932913?pwd=cjhnSlVRR2piNDF6RVBKMU5VVVUwUT09