South Asia Center Presents: Memory, History, Conflict and Claim

Memory, History, Conflict and Claim: Rishabhdeo Temple, Rajasthan Anisha Saxena Fulbright Scholar, Center for Historical Research, Jawaharlal University Rishabhdeo temple in Udaipur, Rajasthan has a long history of pluralism. Though a Jain temple, it attracts a large number of Hindus and Bhil devotees. However, in recent years, this temple has become contested terrain as different groups try to claim the temple as their own. Saxena explores the processes of how and why a shared sacred site becomes an arena of contestation and how in this battle for sacred spaces, history and historical evidence get appropriated and (mis)interpreted. She also addresses the ways in which the modern legal system takes recourse to history in trying to unravel the tangle between materiality and memory, and how it is imperative to engage with contemporary concerns about the retrieval of memory and history. Tuesday, February 5, 2013 12:30 pm 100 Eggers Hall.