About the Book
This multidisciplinary volume brings together distinguished scholars and practitioners to illuminate the intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural foundations of India's rich knowledge traditions. Spanning philosophy, performing arts, music, and cultural theory, the essays offer fresh and insightful engagements with both classical texts and contemporary debates. At its core, the collection foregrounds indigenous epistemologies, highlighting their conceptual sophistication, internal diversity, and enduring relevance within global academic discourse. Far from presenting Indian traditions as static or derivative, the book showcases them as dynamic, living systems of inquiry capable of addressing pressing intellectual and cultural questions of the present. This volume will appeal to scholars, institutions, and readers seeking a deeper, globally informed understanding of Bharatiya knowledge systems.
About the Author
DR. PRANAV KUMAR is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He holds a PhD from JNU. Before his current role, he taught at Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi, and Sherubtse College, Royal University of Bhutan. A prolific scholar, Dr. Kumar has authored two books, published over 30 journal articles, and contributed 15 book chapters. He has successfully led four funded research projects and supervised 13 PhD scholars to completion. His research interests are diverse, with his current work focusing on exploring India's cultural connections with the world.
Foreword
The Body as the Depository of Knowledge One of the many contributions of Indian civilisation to the intellectual heritage of mankind is that the body itself could become the vehicle of knowledge. This second volume in the Bharatiya Knowledge Traditions series focuses on the performing arts, including dance, music, and dramatic expression, as sophisticated epistemological systems in their own right. Here, we find traditions in which knowing is not simply cerebral but corporeal, wherein knowing is not derived from texts alone, but through the trained movement of limbs, the discipline of breath, and the cultivation of aesthetic experience. The Natyasastra of Bharatamuni, is not limited to being merely a technical manual for performers. As the contributors to this volume show, the Natyasastra lays out a comprehensive theory of communication, emotion, and consciousness that anticipates many of the concerns of contemporary semiotics and phenomenology. The concepts of rasa (aesthetic sentiment), bhava (emotional state), and abhinaya (expressive representation) form a coherent framework for the understanding of the transformation of experience by art - both for the performer and the spectator. Embodied Epistemology and the Dancing Body The sixteen chapters compiled in this volume problematize the modern dichotomy between the intellectual and the artistic. They show that Indian traditions of performance do have their own grammar, logic and metaphysics.
Preface
This volume explores the artistic and performative dimensions of Indian civilisation as a highly developed epistemological system in its own right. The performing arts of Bharat-classical dance, music, and dramatic expression-constitute not merely aesthetic pursuits but repositories of distinctive ways of knowing the world. Within this domain, the transformation of consciousness is achieved through the disciplined practice of the embodied experience. The contributions of this volume amply demonstrate that these artistic traditions represent some of humanity's most sustained efforts to understand the relationship between body and mind, individual and cosmos, technique and transcendence. This volume is a significant outcome of the deliberations and scholarly exchanges at the international conference on "Reimagining and Reclaiming the Knowledge Traditions of Bharat: Beyond Boundaries and Definitions," organised on March 3-4, 2025, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. The conference was sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Delhi, and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata. This hybrid conference brought together over 225 participants from around the globe-representing more than 40 countries and more than 70 institutions to discuss and debate the multifaceted heritage of Indian knowledge systems.
Acknowledgement
This volume is the outcome of a vibrant collective effort that began with the international conference on "Reimagining and Reclaiming the Knowledge Traditions of Bharat: Beyond Boundaries and Definitions", held at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in March 2025. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata, whose funding made this global academic exchange possible. I express my sincere gratitude to the Director, MAKAIAS and the Member Secretary, ICSSR We extend our sincere thanks to Jawaharlal Nehru University for its institutional support. The conference and the volumes could not have become possible without the participants of the conference-scholars, researchers, and practitioners from over 40 countries-whose engagement enriched the discussions and laid the foundation for this volume. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to all the contributors of this volume. Their insightful and rigorously researched chapters form the core of this work. Their scholarship and commitment would make this publication a valuable contribution to the study of Bharatiya knowledge traditions. We are especially grateful to Prof. Brajesh Kumar Pandey for writing the foreword and to Prof. Vandana Mishra for her ongoing encouragement and support throughout this journey.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist