Südasien-Institut / South Asia Institute, Heidelberg

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Südasien-Institut / South Asia Institute, Heidelberg

The South Asia Institute is Europe’s leading center for South Asian Studies.

The South Asia Institute is Europe’s leading center for South Asian Studies with an active international research network and an outstanding library. As a central academic institution within Heidelberg University, the South Asia Institute today has seven professorships, namely Anthropology, Development Economics, Geography, History, Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (formerly Classical

Indology), Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures (formerly Modern Indology) as well as Political Science. With our branch offices in several South Asian countries, and many visiting scholars from all over the world, we provide an environment for interdisciplinary applied learning and research.

05/06/2026

SAI invites you to attend the following events this week.

You can find programs and more information about the events (including links) in sai.uni-heidelberg.de

05/06/2026

We warmly welcome Prof. Jayan Jose Thomas to SAI under the Baden-Württemberg Research Fellowship. A Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, he has also served as a Member of the State Planning Board, Government of Kerala, from 2016 to 2021. His previous academic positions include a four-year stint at the National University of Singapore.

In his research and teaching, Prof. Thomas works on development problems, particularly those related to labour and industrialisation, from a macroeconomic perspective. His core areas of interest include Indian economy, issues in international development, and macroeconomic theory.

Prof. Thomas holds a PhD in development economics from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

03/06/2026

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Srishtee Sethi as part of the joint South Asia Institute–Max Weber Forum Fellowship Program. She joins SAI for three months as the second fellow hosted through this program.

Dr. Sethi received her PhD from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and was previously a Mittal Fellow at the LMSAI, Harvard University. Her research explores borderland communities, notions of an “undivided homeland,” and ritual entanglements across South Asia. Additionally, she aims to understand cross-border migrant emplacement within intertwined networks of political and cultural power.

During the fellowship, Dr. Sethi will be working with Dr. Philipp Zehmisch on developing a long-term research project on cross-border ethnography in a securitised region, conducted collaboratively in India and Pakistan.

02/06/2026

Hindu Temple Legends in South India: Early Career Researchers Workshop

On May 18–19, the “Hindu Temple Legends in South India” Academy Project hosted a one-and-a-half-day workshop for Early Career Researchers, providing a dedicated platform for emerging scholars to present their latest research and engage in substantive academic dialogue. Participants explored diverse aspects of South India’s legendary and cultural traditions, receiving detailed feedback from peers and senior experts across six sessions.

Beyond the formal presentations, the event emphasized the importance of professional exchange and collaboration. By bringing together researchers at different stages of their careers, the workshop created valuable opportunities to discuss contemporary projects, build connections, and contribute to a growing academic community dedicated to the study of South India’s rich religious and cultural heritage.

01/06/2026

“Flowers, Gods and Scholars. The Puṣpacintāmaṇi, a Nepalese Digest on Flowers in Worship” by Astrid Zotter
Heidelberg: Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing, 2026.

The Puṣpacintāmaṇi is a 17th-century Nepalese digest (nibandha) that compiles authoritative citations on the use of flowers in Hindu worship (pūjā). This book provides a critical edition and translation of the Sanskrit text and its Newari rendering, along with botanical identifications of the flowers mentioned.

Furthermore, it analyzes the historical and cultural context of the text, including its place in the Nepalese textual tradition and its relationship to other texts of its genre.
This is a reworked English version of the thesis “Von Blüten, Göttern und Gelehrten: Die Behandlung von pūjā-Blüten im Puṣpacintāmaṇi”.

The complete PDF of the book as well as the individual chapters are available for free download on HASP platform. Link: https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/book/1562

28/05/2026

The Making of India’s Managerial Class: Understanding Yearbooks from the Indian Institutes of Management by Prof. Douglas E. Haynes

The lecture explored the emergence of “managerial capitalism” in India during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, tracing how professional managers came to challenge older forms of family business and colonial firms. Central to this transformation were institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Management, which trained a new managerial elite drawn largely from India’s service communities and literate professions.

Focusing on yearbooks from IIM Ahmedabad, the presentation examined how these publications documented and actively shaped processes of class formation. Through depictions of student life, sport, dorm culture, humor, and campus spaces designed by architect Louis Kahn, the yearbooks fostered a sense of collective identity and belonging among students. They further contributed to sustaining alumni networks and shared institutional identities long after students had graduated and moved into influential positions across India and abroad.

By combining sociological, anthropological, and interdisciplinary approaches, the lecture highlighted the value of yearbooks as historical sources for understanding the making of India’s managerial class and the social worlds that sustained it.

27/05/2026

Indo-Capitalism: India’s Resurgence in Historical and Comparative Perspective by Prof. Indrajit Roy

At a recent talk hosted by the Department of Political Science, Prof. Roy introduced the concept of “Indo-capitalism” to explain India’s economic growth through the lens of political economy.

The discussion highlighted key features of India’s development model, including its constrained yet significant integration into the global economy, the state’s role in promoting both global embeddedness and welfare, the influence of popular movements on policymaking, and the continued importance of democracy in a changing political landscape.

The talk also examined how debates around farm laws, affirmative action, and retail competition reflect attempts to reshape capitalism in ways that better address the interests of marginalised communities.

26/05/2026

Students from the first year of the Master of Fine Arts program at Kathmandu University visited the South Asia Institute, Kathmandu Branch Office on April 22, 2026, as part of an interdisciplinary project integrating research methods, design, and studio art courses. During their visit, the students explored the institute’s library and learned more about its ongoing research projects and initiatives in Nepal.

As part of the program, Monalisa Maharjan, Resident Representative of the branch office, conducted a session titled “People and Places Associated with the Bungadhyo Chariot Procession.” The session introduced students to the rich cultural landscape surrounding the procession, highlighting the communities, spaces, and traditions connected to this significant heritage practice of the Kathmandu Valley.

The visit also supports the students’ ongoing exhibition project inspired by the Bungadhyo Chariot Procession.

25/05/2026

Prof. Marcus Nüsser and Dr. Susanne Schmidt from the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University conducted an excursion to Langtang Valley from September 24 to October 14, 2025. Travelling from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi and trekking through the Langtang Valley up to Langshisha Kharka, the group covered approximately 60 kilometres over the course of three weeks, closely observing the region’s landscapes, settlements, and everyday life. A group of 17 students from Heidelberg University explored how geography, tourism, and everyday economic activities are closely intertwined in Nepal’s high-mountain regions.

During the excursion, the group stayed for several days in three different villages and at the final campsite along the Langtang Valley route. As part of the fieldwork, the students conducted village mapping, documented individual buildings, and engaged in conversations with local residents. Several students also took the opportunity to conduct interviews for their master’s thesis research. Additional day hikes included visits to the proglacial lake, surrounding forests, hydropower facilities, and nearby mountain peaks. Throughout the excursion, the group gained insights into the impacts of the 2015 earthquake, ongoing regional development, changing land use patterns, glacier dynamics, hydropower development, pastoralism, and the broader transformations of life in the Himalaya. The experience highlighted how closely natural processes and human decisions shape the future of the valley and its communities.

The excursion was made possible through the invaluable support, knowledge, and hospitality of the guides and local hosts, whose contributions greatly enriched the group’s experience throughout the field trip.

22/05/2026

SAI invites you to attend the following events this week.

You can find programs and more information about the events (including links) in sai.uni-heidelberg.de

With HASP the FID South Asia supports scholars in Asian Studies to publish their research results in open access. Our services range from hosting electronic journals to publishing monographs in various formats - electronically as PDF and HTML, but also as print-on-demand.

The online course Making Research Visible provides an introduction to our various publishing options. It also covers copyright issues and Creative Commons licence. It is conducted in English.

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