Monumental Mountains: The Making of the Char-Dham Yatra

Speaker: Dr. Nachiket  Chanchani, Assistant Professor of South Asian Art and Visual Culture, University of Michigan  and currently  J. Gonda Foundation Fellow, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences,  Leiden

 

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

 

This talk aims to explicate how a remote mountainous landscape around the upper reaches of the Ganga River in the Himalayas transformed into an exalted region evoking deep faith in millions of Hindu pilgrims. From approximately the third century BCE up to the thirteenth century CE, numerous stone monuments, steles, and statues were erected in this landscape. This talk explores the processes by which these monuments and sculptures evoked mythic worlds, embedded historical memories, enhanced the mountain range’s appearance, and altered its symbolic significance