{"id":2,"date":"2012-09-04T13:39:49","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T17:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/template\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:42:22","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Vasudha Narayanan<\/h2>\n\n\n
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vasu@ufl.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

352.392.1625
\n104 Anderson Hall
\nPh.D. University of Bombay
\nHinduism in India & the Diaspora<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor, Department of Religion, at the University of Florida and a past President of the American Academy of Religion<\/a> (2001-2002). She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences<\/a>\u00a0in 2023. She was educated at the Universities of Madras and Bombay in India, and at Harvard University. Her fields of interest are the Hindu traditions in India, Cambodia, and America; visual and expressive cultures in the study of the Hindu traditions; and gender issues. She is currently working on Hindu temples and traditions in Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

She is the author or editor of nine books and numerous articles, chapters in books, and encyclopedia entries. In addition, she is also the associate editor of the seven-volume Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism<\/em>. Her research has been supported by grants and fellowships from several organizations including the Centre for Khmer Studies<\/em>, the American Council of Learned Societies<\/em>, National Endowment for the Humanities<\/em>, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation<\/em>, the American Institute of Indian Studies\/ Smithsonian<\/em>, and the Social Science Research Council<\/em>. She was the president of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies from 1996-1998. Dr. Narayanan was named University of Florida\u2019s Teacher Scholar of the Year<\/em> in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Dr. Narayanan and the University of Florida have created the nation\u2019s first Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (CHiTra)<\/a> to encourage the research, teaching and public understanding of Hindu culture and traditions. Click here<\/a> to read the University of Florida News article about CHiTra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  • Associate Editor, Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 2009 \u2013 2024<\/li>\n
  • Nine Nights of Power: Durg\u0101, Dolls and Darbars<\/em>. Edited by Ute Hu\u0308sken, Vasudha Narayanan, Astrid Zotter, Albany: SUNY Press, 2021.<\/li>\n
  • The Wiley Companion to Material Religion<\/em>. Vasudha Narayanan, editor. Wiley Blackwell. 2020.<\/li>\n
  • The Life of Hinduism<\/em> (co-edited with John Stratton Hawley, 2007)<\/li>\n
  • Hinduism<\/em> (2004, 2009)<\/li>\n
  • The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual<\/em> (1994)<\/li>\n
  • The Tamil Veda: Pillan\u2019s Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli<\/em> (co-authored with John Carman, 1989)<\/li>\n
  • The Way and the Goal: Expressions of Devotion in the Early Srivaisnava Tradition<\/em> (1987)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Articles & Chapters in Books:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    • 2024. \u201cTrade Winds, Westerlies, and the Cross Winds of Cultural Contacts: India and other Convergence Zones.\u201d In A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Classical Age<\/em>, (volume 2 of 6 volumes); volume ed. Adheesh Sathaye, series editor, Karen Pechilis, Bloomsbury, 197-227<\/li>\n
    • 2024. \u201cResiding on the hair of \u015aiva, Rising from the Foot of Vi\u1e63\u1e47u: The River Ga\u1e45g\u0101 in the Khmer Landscape.\u201d In Pilgrimage, Place, and Pluralism: Essays in Conversation with Diana Eck<\/em> edited by Jennifer Peace and Elinor Pierce. Monkfish Publishing, 2024, 110-118.<\/li>\n
    • 2024. \u201cWomen Sharing Bhakti, Women Singing Devotion: Friends, Teachers, and Leaders in the Hindu Diaspora.\u201d In Gendered Agency in Transcultural Hinduism and Buddhism: Nuns, Gurus, and Priestesses<\/em>, edited by Ute Hu\u0308sken, Routledge, Routledge Critical Studies in Religion, Gender and Sexuality, 2024, 98-118.<\/li>\n
    • 2023. \u2018Paradoxology\u2019: The Art of Praising Vishnu.\u201d in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Comparative Theology<\/em>; edited by Axel Marc Oaks Takacs and Joseph Kimmel, Wiley-Blackwell, 209-224.<\/li>\n
    • 2023. \u201c\u2018Fortune, Success, Well-being, Victory!\u2019 Connections between India and Cambodia in the First Millennium CE.\u201d In The Oxford History of Hinduism<\/em>, ed. Knut Jacobsen, Oxford University Press, 23-51.<\/li>\n
    • 2023.\u201cPrestige Temples, Performing Arts, and Power: Hindu Immigrants in the United States.\u201d In The Oxford History of Hinduism<\/em>, ed. Knut Jacobsen, Oxford University Press, 178-208.<\/li>\n
    • 2023. Vasudha Narayanan and Prathik Murali, \u201cDances of War, Pleas for Protection: The Dance of the Defeated R\u0101k\u1e63asas in Tiruma\u1e45kai-\u0101\u1e3bv\u0101r\u2019s Periya Tirumo\u1e3bi\u201d. Journal of Vaishnava Studies<\/em>, Volume 31 No. 2 Spring 2023 pp. 157-172.<\/li>\n
    • 2021. \u201cNine Nights of Power: Durga, Dolls, and Darbars\u2014An Introduction.\u201d With Ute Hu\u0308sken and Astrid Zotter. In Nine Nights of Power: Durg\u0101, Dolls and Darbars<\/em>, edited by Ute Hu\u0308sken, Vasudha Narayanan, Astrid Zotter, Albany: SUNY Press, 2021, 1-13.<\/li>\n
    • 2021. \u201cHindu-Christian Relations through a Performing Arts Lens.\u201d (A chapter responding to the whole book). In The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations<\/em>, ed. Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. London and New York: Routledge, 459-475.<\/li>\n
    • 2019. Vasudha Narayanan and Jodi Shaw, \u201cVai\u1e63\u1e47ava and \u015aaiva Poets in Common Landscapes and Parallel Universes.\u201d Journal of Vaisnava Studies<\/em>, Vol. 28, no. 1, Fall 2019, 119-136.<\/li>\n
    • 2019. \u201cA Note on the Buddha and Buddhism from a Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava Perspective.\u201d Journal of Vaisnava Studies<\/em>, Vol. 28, no. 1, Fall 2019, pp. 183-196.<\/li>\n
    • 2019. \u201cHinduism and Social Transformation.\u201d Pluriverse: A Post-Development Text<\/em>. Ed. Ashish Kothari, Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Federico Demaria, and Alberto Acosta. New Delhi: Tulika Books.<\/li>\n
    • 2018. \u201cRoyal Darbar and Domestic Kolus: Social Order, Creation, Procreation, and Re-Creation.\u201d In Nine nights of the Goddess: The Navaratri Festival in South Asia<\/em>.\u201d Ed. Caleb Simmons, Hilary Rodriguez, and Moumita Sen. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 2018.<\/li>\n
    • 2017. \u201cThe \u201cmonument Visnuite\u201d at the Musee Guimet and the Luminous Pillar.\u201d In Anna L. Dallapiccola and Anila Verghese, India and Southeast Asia: Cultural Discourses<\/em>. Mumbai: The K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, 2017, 245-278.<\/li>\n
    • 2017. \u201cExtending Selva J. Raj\u2019s Scholarship to Hindu American Temples: Accommodation, Assimilation, and a Dialogue of Action.\u201d In Vernacular Catholicism, Vernacular Saints: Selva Raj on \u201cBeing Catholic the Tamil Way.\u201d<\/em> Edited by Reid Locklin, Albany, NY, SUNY Press, 225-242.<\/li>\n
    • 2017. \u201cMatters That Matter: Material Religion in Contemporary India,\u201d in Jacobsen, Knut A. Routledge Handbook of Contemporary India<\/em>. 329-346.<\/li>\n
    • 2017. \u201cHinduism.\u201d (29,082 words) A completely revised chapter for The Concise Introduction to World Religions, edited by Amir Hussain and Roy Amore<\/em>. Toronto and NY: Oxford University Press.<\/li>\n
    • 2015. \u201cThe History of the Academic Study of Religion in Universities, Centers, and Institutes in India.\u201d Numen<\/em>. Vol. 62, no. 1, 7-39.<\/li>\n
    • 2015. \u201cThe Hero at Play: Depictions of the Govardhana-Laia story in Khmer art.\u201d Journal of Vaishnava Studies<\/em>. Vol. 23, no. 2, 131-147.<\/li>\n
    • 2014. \u201cCreating Realities, Communicating Dreams, Constructing Temple Lore: Anklets of the Goddess\u2019s Feet at Thirmeeyachur.\u201d In Inventing and Reinventing the Goddess: Contemporary Iterations of Hindu Deities on the Move<\/em>, ed. Sree Padma, Lantham, MD and London, UK: Lexington Books, 121-142. (2014)<\/li>\n
    • 2014. Social and Bhakti Hierarchies in Interpreting the life of Tiruppan Alvar.\u201d Journal of Vaishnava Studies<\/em> Vol 22\/ no 2 (Spring 2014), 221-246.<\/li>\n
    • 2014. \u201cWho is the Strong-Armed Monkey who Churns the Ocean of Milk?\u201d UDAYA: Journal of Khmer Studies<\/em>, 11, 3-28.<\/li>\n
    • \u201cHinduism: Practicing Tradition Today.\u201d In South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today<\/em>, edited by Karen Pechilis and Selva J. Raj (New York: Routledge), 39-72 (2013)<\/li>\n
    • 2012. \u201cRewriting the Hindu Traditions from Global Perspectives.\u201d In Re-imagining South Asian Religions: Essays in Honour of Professors Harold G. Coward and Ronald W. Neufeldt<\/em>, edited by Pashaura Singh and Michael Hawley. Leiden: Brill Academic, 66-88.<\/li>\n
    • 2012. \u201cHinduism in America.\u201d The Cambridge History of Religion in America<\/em>, ed. Stephen Stein. Cambridge University Press<\/li>\n
    • 2012. \u201cHinduism.\u201d Encyclopedia of Global Studies<\/em>. Edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and Helmut K. Anheier, Sage Publications, volume 2, pp. 793-799<\/li>\n
    • 2010. \u201cThe Hindu Tradition\u201d in World Religions: Eastern Traditions<\/em>, ed. by Willard Oxtoby and Roy Amore<\/li>\n
    • 2009. \u201cHindu Attitudes to Genetically Modified Food.\u201d Acceptable Genes: Religious and Cultural Perspectives<\/em>, edited by Harold Coward and Conrad Brunk. State University of New York Press, 159- 178.<\/li>\n
    • 2009. \u201cCambodia.\u201d Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism<\/em>, volume 1. Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities<\/em>. Edited by Knut Jacobsen, Vasudha Narayanan, Angelika Malinar, and Helene Basu. Brill, 2009, 345-352 (double columns\/ 10,000 words).<\/li>\n
    • 2009. \u201cGods and Goddesses\u2014Overview article.\u201d Introductory article to section on Gods, Goddesses and Divine Powers. Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism<\/em>, volume 1. Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities<\/em>. Edited by Knut Jacobsen, Vasudha Narayanan, Angelika Malinar, and Helene Basu. Brill, 2009, 457-468.<\/li>\n
    • 2009. \u201cSri Lakshmi.\u201d Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism<\/em>, volume 1. Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities<\/em>. Edited by Knut Jacobsen, Vasudha Narayanan, Angelika Malinar, and Helene Basu. Brill, 2009, 755-764.<\/li>\n
    • 2009. \u201cVenkateswara.\u201d Brill\u2019s Encyclopedia of Hinduism<\/em>, volume 1. Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities<\/em>. Edited by Knut Jacobsen, Vasudha Narayanan, Angelika Malinar, and Helene Basu. Brill, 2009, 781-785.<\/li>\n
    • 2008. \u201c\u2019With the earth as a lamp and the sun as the flame\u2026\u2019: Lighting Devotion in South India.\u201d International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer Verlag) vol. 11 no 3, 227-253<\/li>\n
    • 2006. \u201cShanti: Peace for the Mind, Body, and Soul: Well being, health and healing in the Hindu Traditions.\u201d Teaching Religion and Healing, edited by Linda L. Barnes and Ines M. Talamantes. New York: Oxford University Press, 61-82<\/li>\n
    • 2007. \u201cWeaving Garlands of Tamil Poems\u201d in An Anthology of Krishna-Resources<\/em>, edited by Edwin Bryant.<\/li>\n
    • 2007. \u201cPerforming Arts, Reforming Rituals,\u201d in Women\u2019s Lives, Women\u2019s Rituals in the Hindu Tradition<\/em>, edited by Tracy Pintchman<\/li>\n
    • 2006. \u201cSacred Land, Sacred Service: Hindu Adaptations to the American Landscape\u201d in A Nation of Religions: The Politics of Pluralism in Multi-religious America<\/em>, edited by Stephen Prothero (2006)<\/li>\n
    • 2005. \u201cHeterogenous Spaces and Modernities: Hindu Rituals to Sacralize the American Landscape.\u201d Journal of Vaishnava Studies<\/em> (Spring 2005)<\/li>\n
    • 2004.\u201cSacred land, Common ground, Contested territory: The Healing Mother of Velankanni Basilica and the Infant Jesus Shrine in Bangalore\u201d in Journal of Hindu Christian Studies<\/em>, Vol.17, (Fall 2004)<\/li>\n
    • 2004.\u201cGurus and Goddesses, Deities and Devotees\u201d in The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States<\/em>, edited by Karen Pechilis (2004)<\/li>\n
    • 2003. 2002 American Academy of Religion presidential address \u201cEmbodied Cosmologies: Sights of Piety, Sites of Power,\u201d in Journal of the American Academy of Religion<\/em>, 71\/3 (Fall 2003)<\/li>\n
    • 2002. \u201cVaishnava Traditions in Cambodia,\u201d in Festschrift for Dennis Hudson<\/em>, Journal of Vaishnava Studies, 11\/1 (September 2002)<\/li>\n
    • 2001. \u201cWater, Wood, and Wisdom: Ecological Perspectives from the Hindu Traditions.\u201d Daedalus, 130\/4 (Fall 2001)<\/li>\n
    • 1997. \u201c\u2018One Tree is Equal to Ten Sons\u2019: Some Hindu Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population and Consumption\u201d in Journal of the American Academy of Religion<\/em>, 65\/2 (June 1997)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1169,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":887,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/vasu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}