Indian Religions

Indian Religions

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Indian religions about their new books.

Channel Sponsors:

Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan, "Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras: A Yoga Teacher's Guide" (Singing Dragon, 2026)

August 27, 2026

Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras

Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras: A Yoga Teacher's Guide (Singing Dragon, 2026), experienced yoga teachers Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan pro…

Aleksandar Uskokov, "Deciphering the Hidden Meaning: Language and the Highest Good in Early Advaita Vedānta" (Oxford UP, 2026)

August 20, 2026

Deciphering the Hidden Meaning

Aleksandar Uskokov
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Deciphering the Hidden Meaning: Language and the Highest Good in Early Advaita Vedānta (Oxford UP, 2026) presents a transformative history of one of t…

Utathya Chattopadhyaya, "Ganja Matters: Empire and the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India" (U California Press, 2026)

August 19, 2026

Ganja Matters

Utathya Chattopadhyaya
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Ganja is the popular name in Hindustani, Bengali, and other South Asian languages for intoxicating substances produced from the plant species Ca…

James Lochtefeld, "God’s Own Land: Sacred Landscape, Pilgrim Economy and Religious Change in the Ganga Himalaya" (Lever Press, 2026)

August 13, 2026

God’s Own Land

James Lochtefeld
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

God’s Own Land: Sacred Landscape, Pilgrim Economy and Religious Change in the Ganga Himalaya (Lever Press, 2026) follows the tectonic shift from tradi…

Edward T. G. Anderson, "Hindu Nationalism in the Indian Diaspora: Transnational Politics and British Multiculturalism" (Oxford UP, 2024)

August 8, 2026

Hindu Nationalism in the Indian Diaspora

Edward T. G. Anderson
Hosted by Sachin Nikarge

Hindu nationalism is transforming India as an increasingly dominant ideology and political force. But it is also a global phenomenon, with sections of…

Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz and Alaka Atreya Chudal, "The Swasthani Vrata Katha" (Oxford UP, 2026)

August 6, 2026

The Swasthani Vrata Katha

Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, Alaka Atreya Chudal
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The Swasthani Vrata Katha is the most widely read, recited, and listened to Hindu devotional text, especially of local indigenous origin, among Hindu …

James L. Fitzgerald, "The Mahabharata, Volume 8" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

July 30, 2026

The Mahabharata, Volume 8

James L. Fitzgerald
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The Mahabharata, Volume 8 (U Chicago Press, 2026) is a translation of the twelfth book of The Mahābhārata, an epic tale of history and kingship, reinf…

Dominik A. Haas, "South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept" (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026)

July 23, 2026

South Asia Before Religion

Dominik A. Haas
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026) critically examines the applicability of the conce…

Ute Hüsken and Suganya Anandakichenin eds., "Pathika: Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions" (HAS, 2026)

July 16, 2026

Pathika

Ute Hüsken and Suganya Anandakichenin eds.
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

A conversation featuring the editors of the new Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing series Pathika - Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions (HAS,…

Pratap Kumar Penumala and Arvind Sharma, "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

July 9, 2026

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics

Pratap Kumar Penumala and Arvind Sharma
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

With the plurality of Hinduism in mind, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics focuses on the human, sociological and situational ethical framework u…

Gajendran Ayyathurai, "Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 4, 2026

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India

Gajendran Ayyathurai
Hosted by Sanjukta Poddar

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste (Oxford University Press, 2026) explores Tamil Buddhism in modern India, …

Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan, "Tamil Śiva Temples, Āgamas, and Śivabrāhmaṇas/Ādiśaivas" (YSSR Foundation, 2026)

July 2, 2026

Tamil Śiva Temples, Āgamas, and Śivabrāhmaṇas/Ādiśaivas

Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Tamil Śiva Temples, Āgamas, and Śivabrāhmaṇas/Ādiśaivas addresses the issue of whether members of all castes can become priests in Tamil Śiva temples.…

Aditi Chandra, "Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi's Islamic Architecture" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

July 1, 2026

Unruly Monuments

Aditi Chandra
Hosted by Sohini Majumdar

Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi's Islamic Architecture (Cambridge University Press, 2025) examines how Delhi's Sultanate and Mughal ar…

Christian Environmentalism in a Hindu Majoritarian Context

June 26, 2026

Christian Environmentalism in a Hindu Majoritarian Context

Why has the Catholic Church in India become so engaged in environmental initiatives? And what does the wider Indian political context defined by an as…

Hamsa Stainton and Anna Lee White, "Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions: Studying Stotras" (Routledge, 2026)

June 25, 2026

Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions

Hamsa Stainton and Anna Lee White
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Sanskrit hymns of praise (stotra/stuti/stava) have been popular and influential within multiple religious traditions for thousands of years. Sanskrit …

Carola E. Lorea, "Communities of Sound: Religion, Displacement, and Caste in the Bay of Bengal" (Wesleyan UP, 2026)

June 25, 2026

Communities of Sound

Carola E. Lorea
Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda

Communities of Sound: Religion, Displacement, and Caste in the Bay of Bengal (Wesleyan University Press, 2026) brings together insights from religion,…

Manasicha Akepiyapornchai, "Surrender to God Across Languages: Multilingual Intellectual History of Premodern India" (Oxford UP, 2026)

June 11, 2026

Surrender to God Across Languages

Manasicha Akepiyapornchai
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Surrender to God Across Languages: Multilingual Intellectual History of Premodern India (Oxford UP, 2026) explores the role of languages in the intell…

The Diasporic Hindu Right with Savera

June 8, 2026

The Diasporic Hindu Right with Savera

Prachi Patankar and Ram Vishwanathan

This episode features a conversation with Prachi and Ram, organizers with Savera, a multiracial, interfaith, anti-caste coalition of Indian Americans …

Amrita Chowdhury and Ujaan Ghosh, "Baidehisha Bilasa: The Amorous Plays of Sita’s Husband" (2025)

June 4, 2026

Baidehisha Bilasa

Amrita Chowdhury and Ujaan Ghosh
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Amrita Chowdhury and Ujaan Ghosh bring into English for the first time a long-inaccessible masterpiece of South Asian literature. Composed in the late…

Patrick S. D. McCartney, "Sanskrit-Speaking' Villages, Linguistic Utopias and the Metaphysics of Development" (Routledge, 2026)

May 28, 2026

Sanskrit-Speaking' Villages, Linguistic Utopias and the Metaphysics of Development

Patrick S. D. McCartney
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Sanskrit-Speaking' Villages, Linguistic Utopias and the Metaphysics of Development (Routledge, 2026) is a recollection of the McCartney's journey acro…