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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261116T170000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261116T183000
LOCATION:Gibson Hall #441
SUMMARY:\"The Relic in the Glass Cabinet: What the Manuscripts Remember\,\"
  Dr. Avni Chag (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:&nbsp\;&nbsp\;What happens when the historical evidence does no
 t support the history everyone knows? The Śikṣāpatrī\, a principal sc
 ripture of the Swaminarayan Hindu tradition\, is said to have been compose
 d by Swaminarayan in 1826. Yet no autograph survives\, no known 212-verse 
 copy dates from his lifetime\, and the earliest dated text was produced af
 ter his death. More unexpectedly\, manuscripts in India preserve an earlie
 r 145-verse recension from 1823\, without several of the doctrinal feature
 s now associated with the text\, and the wider tradition. Tracking a speci
 fic manuscript that now sits behind glass in Oxford's Bodleian Libraries
 —treasured by librarians and venerated by devotees—this talk explores 
 how a messy history of composition became a singular story of divine autho
 rity. Ultimately\, we will ask: what happens when the evidence for a relig
 ious past becomes sacred itself?Dr. Chag is a scholar of South Asian relig
 ious\, visual\, and material history\, specializing in Hindu traditions\, 
 manuscript cultures\, sacred objects\, religious art\, and heritage practi
 ces. Her research examines how texts\, images\, relics\, artworks\, and ri
 tual spaces shape religious memory\, authority\, and historical consciousn
 ess across South Asia and its diasporas. She will join us to discuss her n
 ew book\, The Relic in the Glass Cabinet (OUP\, New York\, 2026).
DTSTAMP:20261009T035237Z
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