Pondicherry reading seminar

February 2023 trip to Pondicherry

by Olli-Pekka Littunen

Published on March 25, 2023

In early February 2023, I stayed for two weeks in Pondicherry, India. During the first week, the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in Pondicherry hosted a reading seminar by the Naples-based Śivadharma project. We read three texts daily: chapter 29 of the Haracaritacintāmaṇi edited by Judit Törzsök, the text and commentary of the Śivadharmottara 1.18-78 edited by Florinda De Simini, and the text and commentary of the Śivadharmaśāstra regarding the Umāmaheśvara vow, edited by Csaba Kiss, Nirajan Kafle, and Peter Bisschop. The reading sessions were quite intensive, lasting from the morning until the end of the afternoon. On a personal level, I learned a lot from the reading sessions and from discussions with the participants, and I believe the scholars whose texts we were reading also managed to improve their editions due to this fruitful workshop. I also thoroughly enjoyed a presentation by EFEO PhD student Sushmita Das regarding her research – I was especially intrigued by the concept of pañcapiṇḍī, five balls surrounding a liṅga, that she discussed in the first part of her talk.

The second week of my stay I was able to use the library and other facilities of the EFEO for my own research. I was graciously allowed to work on my own project and discuss various topics with other scholars there. Dominic Goodall (the head of the EFEO in Pondicherry) was a welcoming and gracious host, alongside Prerana and Kavitha who helped me with accommodation and other details. The librarians at both the EFEO library and the IFP (Institut Français de Pondichéry) were very helpful in my efforts at acquiring books and attempting to find a specific edition of the Suprabhedāgama. I should also extend a special thank you to Riccardo Paccagnella and Abhirami Prakashan, who got me started in learning Tamil.

Additionally, I also had some time to walk around the beautiful city of Pondicherry and take in the atmosphere of the area which was soothing (at least when compared to North India which I am more used to). I also went to see a Bhāratanāṭyam performance, visited the botanical garden, spoke with friends, ate good South Indian food, and met the friendly people of Pondicherry. I am already looking forward to being able to return, preferably for a longer period of time and benefit from the inspiring environment of the EFEO at Pondicherry.