Illustrated lecture by Dr Yashaswini Chandra, Research Coordinator at Sahapedia (an enterprise to develop an online interactive encyclopedia on the histories, arts and cultures of South Asia), and Guest Faculty at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU

Chair: Dr Gautam Sengupta, Director General, ASI

The talk focuses on the linked topics of local religious practices and shrines in the western Himalayas. It is concerned with the nature of religious belief in the region, which includes both localised forms of Hinduism, and belief in devis and devatas (or male and female deities) associated with specific geographies. The relationship between normative Hindu gods and goddesses and local deities is addressed