On the adoption of the cult of the serpent deities (nāgas) in Nepalese Buddhism
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
- Venue
- Senate House, SOAS
- Room
- SALT
- Event type
- Lecture
About this event
This talk examines how the Buddhist traditions of the Nepal Valley have adapted to autochthonous forms of practice, with a focus on the cult of the serpent deities (nāga).
This will include the examination of narrative literature and its visual articulations in painting. Particular consideration will be given to the presence of the cult of nāga deities at the site of Svayambhū (located on the western outskirts of Kathmandu), where many key developments of the Nepalese Buddhist tradition have converged. This will include an examination of the Svayambhūcaitya and its immediate surroundings, as well as their representations in painted scrolls (paubhā).
Attending the event
This event is free, open to the public, and held in person only.
Sponsor and organiser
This lecture has been organised by the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies. The Buddhist Forum series is kindly sponsored by the Khyentse Foundation.
About the speaker
Alexander von Rospatt is Professor for Buddhist and South Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he directs the Group in Buddhist Studies. He specialises in the doctrinal history of Indian Buddhism and in the indigenous Buddhist tradition of the Kathmandu Valley. His forthcoming book, The Svayambhu Caitya and its Renovations, complements numerous essays he has authored on various aspects of the Nepalese tradition, including its narrative literature, its art historical heritage, and its rituals, along with their origins and evolution.
Von Rospatt studied at SOAS and at the University of Hamburg. Before joining UC Berkeley in 2003, he served as assistant professor at the University of Leipzig and taught as visiting professor at the universities of Oxford and Vienna.
