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Study of Religions Research Seminar Series - Bharat Samaj Puja: Studying a Theosophical Ritual
The next lecture in the Study of Religions Research Seminar Series is on Wednesday 10 April 2024 from 5-6pm on MS Teams with Mriganka Mukhopadhyay on:
Bharat Samaj Puja: Studying a Theosophical Ritual
This talk will focus on Bharat Samaj Puja, an understudied ritual performed by the Theosophical Society in India since the early twentieth century. This ritual was initially designed by Tamil Theosophists and was further developed by Charles W. Leadbeater and Jiddu Krishnamurti, two leading figures of the Theosophical movement. In this regard, a Bharat Samaj temple was built based on the drawings of Leadbeater’s Thought Forms. Besides, a Bharat Samaj Association was also formed for planning and organising the ritual across India. The ceremony, still performed by Indian members in the Theosophical centres in India, consists of chanting Vedic hymns and worshipping fire during mass congregation. The ceremony sheds light on the Hindu ritualistic practices within the Theosophical movement in the context of the global history of religion. This talk will critically examine Bharat Samaj Puja from historical and contemporary perspectives. It will be discussed how the ritual helped the Theosophical Society connect itself to Indian nationalism and Hindu revivalism through ritualistic practices.
Mriganka Mukhopadhyay is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at Leiden University. He studied History at Presidency College, Kolkata, and Ambedkar University, Delhi, before pursuing a PhD from the University of Amsterdam. He is interested in the history of religions and esoteric currents in modern South Asia and their global intersections. He is currently finalising his PhD dissertation titled The Occult World of Bengalis: Theosophy in Colonial South Asia and its Global Entanglements (1882-1942). Among other academic engagements, he is the book review editor of Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism and a former student representative on the board of ESSWE (European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism). Before teaching at Leiden, he taught courses at the Universities of Amsterdam and Vienna and published articles in reputed peer-reviewed journals.