RESEARCH

CSH

The emergence of hospital chains in India

In many countries, the provision of hospital care is turning into an industry with the increasing presence of large corporate hospital chains. Since the 1980s, a new pro-market regulatory environment and state incentives have allowed new private players to invest in the hospital sector. Through public subsidies (tax holidays, land for free) and new regulatory frames (liberalisation of insurance sector and foreign investment, hospital accreditation), central and state governments have helped the hospital chains to expand. But hospital chains did not live up to the expectations of delivering free care to the poor. While the demand for hospital care is increasing in India, public and private hospital care providers have failed to deliver, not only in terms of volume (i.e. number of beds), but also in terms of quality of care.

This research explored the formation of hospital chains in India, their increasing prominence in the delivery of hospital care, their impact on access to hospital services and spatial distribution, and the pivotal role played by the Indian State in this transformation. The roots of corporatisation and the role played by local and NRI entrepreneurs in the inception of hospital chains were documented. Secondly, the expansion of hospital chain networks and the geography of the sector were studied with regard to the already unequal spatial distribution of hospital services in India. Finally, focusing on Delhi, the impact of the hospital chains on the spatial distribution of hospital services and access for the poor was assessed.

Contact: Bertrand Lefebvre
bertrand.lefebvre.lkr@gmail.com

Challenges to Indian Federalism: Politics of Identity and Self-determination

The Charles Wallace Trust Visiting Fellowship 2009 facilitated the completion of the research work started at the CSH. This three month Fellowship awarded by the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge (21 April to 20 July 2009) allowed access to private papers and other primary material available at the British Library and the Cambridge University and the Centre of South Asian Studies libraries.

Based on extensive field survey and other primary and published material, the project aims at a comparative analysis of the Naga and Mizo movements in North-East India. It examines factors such as threat to culture and identity, neglect and discrimination, economic deprivation and relative backwardness and the role of elites and leadership, as possible explanations for the separatist movements in the two regions. To better understand the role of British administrators and missionaries in the emergence of ‘separatist’ demands, the private papers and tour diaries of J H Hutton, Charles Pawsey and others were consulted in England. Useful discussions with scholars at Cambridge on issues like the implications of the British policy of ‘non-interference’ in the tribal affairs helped to look at the issues at hand in a different light.

The results of the research are due for publication as a chapter ‘Politics of Belonging: Identity and State Formation in Nagaland’ in Gérard Toffin and Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka, eds., Citizenship, Democracy and Belonging in the Himalayas (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2009) as well as in the form of an Occasional Paper.

Contact: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Pandey
skpandeyjnu@gmail.com

The dynamics of ICT clusters in India

This research work, done from the perspective of economic geography, seeks to identify and analyse the elements that comprise an ICT cluster in emerging economies, through an investigation of its initial configuration (outsourcing, public policies) and its capacity for resilience (private sector, climb-up of the value-chain, research potential). Deploying the frameworks of “systems of innovation”, proximity and network theories, it aims to put into perspective India’s position in the global production system. In order to map the on-going processes in the technopolitan morphology of India, the study relies on three examples that illustrate the diversity of the dynamics of evolution in ICT clusters (space, time, actors and governance) – situated in the cities of Pune (Maharashtra), Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). In the course of the last field study in India from March to May, interviews were conducted with many key actors in the IT field, from the national to the local levels (public actors, leaders of firms, entrepreneurs, convergence clubs and organisations, scholars and academics, actors in the real estate sector).

The present project builds on earlier research work, done as part of a Master’s Thesis on Indian InfoTech (IT) parks as the most popular configuration of the high-tech cluster. Through a case-study of Pune, the thesis sought to offer a comprehensive understanding of the policy process in the information technology sector, from inception to reception to consequences. It demonstrated that land acquisition for IT expansion in urban fringes had multi-layered ramifications: the creation of new peripheral centralities; mutations of the historical centre; development of a new architecture and modern amenities that necessarily entail a rupture with the past of the city; and an enhancement of Pune’s place within the regional urban hierarchy.

Contact: Divya Leducq
divya.leducq@gmail.com

IFP

Indiapolis

Economic liberalisation in India leads to an economic polarisation in favour of mega-cities and their surroundings but the most remarkable phenomenon is the recent proliferation of small agglomerates. Actually, with the Geopolis approach (http://e-geopolis.eu) - agglomerate considered as a contiguous built up area – an alternative vision of the Indian agglomeration process is proposed as recommended by United Nations for the purpose of analysing and comparing urban dynamics. Indiapolis developed at the IFP with Indian partners is part of Geopolis worldwide programme supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (http://www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/), Agence Française de Développement (http://www.afd.fr/jahia/Jahia/), Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Google.org.

Till now, the analyses of Indian urban dynamics have been based only on the official and administrative list of urban units, which represents a considerably biased picture of reality. After the standardisation of a diachronic set of data, ground verification and digitalisation of each morphological form, it is clearly seen that, apart from the demographic polarisation by the megacities, India is also undergoing a much diffused urbanisation. These results are challenging the canonical model of economic geography which considers metropolises as the unique development motor engine. In 2001, the 6,600 agglomerates with at least 10,000 inhabitants are covering 46,884 km2 (1.4% of the land) for a rate of urbanisation of 39% in 2001 compared to the official rate of 27%. For statistical and political reasons, this tremendous proliferation of small agglomerations of less than 20,000 inhabitants is hidden and widely un-ruled (13% of the urban population). It is also estimated that 1,550 new agglomerates between 10 and 20,000 inhabitants will have emerged by 2011. In the context of the 1992 urban decentralisation (73rd and 74th constitutional amendment acts), this is a missing link in the national policy of planning and urban development which balance between urban metropolises renewal and support for a rural population stability.

The first results were presented in Hyderabad at the IGU international conference (30th July-4th August, 2009) http://www.igu-urban.com/. They were also presented at a seminar of the Centre for the Study of Regional Development at JNU.

Contact: Dr. Eric Denis /
Dr. Kamala Marius-Gnanou
eric.denis@ifpindia.org /
k.marius-gnanou@ades.cnrs.fr

Melissopalynology studies

Melissopalynology is the study of pollen content of honey. Bees’ visitations to flowers aid pollination as they collect both nectar and pollen for storage in their hives. A study, combining seasonal analyses of the pollen contents of honey with vegetation typology and phenology has been initiated recently under the “Paleoenvironments of South India” research programme. The samples are collected from hives spatially well-distributed within an eco-restoration site consisting of distinct areas of land cover and land use 10km west of Puducherry town near the Oussoudou lake. The main focus here is on different aspects of honey bee ecology of our native species Apis cerana indica that remain poorly understood. These include, the maximum distance of foraging, preference, if any of species for foraging, links between the two, the temporal dynamics of the relationship between land cover and honeybee preferences in the context of intra- and inter-annual weather fluctuations. It is planned to study other kinds of samples (surface soil, pollen traps) to develop a model of modern pollen-vegetation relationships. The study is designed for a minimum of three years in continuity, in order to enable the interpretation of palynological results in the light of vegetation studies, phenology and weather parameters. This project is a field-oriented one and relies on the well-established expertise in ecology, bee-keeping and palynology of the collaborating teams.

Contact: Dr. Anupama K. & Prasad S.
anupama.k@ifpindia.org / prasad.s@ifpindia.org

Lipi Das & Prakash Patel
prakashpatel48@gmail.com

EVENTS

LECTURES/SEMINARS/ROUND TABLES/WORKSHOPS

(For more information on events, please consult our respective websites)

CSH

Opening up or ushering in? Interrogating discourses of public consultation and citizen participation in urban governance. This workshop, that took place in Pondicherry on 25^th & 26^th July, 2009, was organised by the Madras Institute of Development Studies with the support of the CSH and the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex. It brought together academics, but also policy makers and activists, to collectively discuss its central thematics from their different perspectives. The question of participation in polarised cities was a general line of inquiry running through the course of the conference, as attendees attempted to consider who does, and does not, get consulted in new urban dispensations, and what the nature and quality of consultation and participation are. In the concluding session, attention was paid to the importance of ‘thick’ research to further details of how residents do participate in urban governance. The possibility of a publication was discussed with organisers (Karen Coelho, M. Vijaybhaskar and Lalitha Kamath), expecting to carry the process forward.

Contact: Dr. Marie-Hélène Zérah
zerah@ird.fr

Diya Mehra
diya.mehra@csh-delhi.com

Contests in contexts: Indian Elections 2009. This workshop, organised by the CSH, took place at the India International Centre, on 31^st July, 2009. It was meant to discuss a series of papers prepared by a team of Indian and French scholars on the recent round of elections, with a view to their submission for inclusion in a special issue of the online journal SAMAJ (http://samaj.revues.org/index.html). The workshop consisted of 8 papers analysing the latest general elections from various perspectives, each paper being commented upon by a discussant. The focus of most papers was not on the detailed analysis of the results of these elections, but on some of the multiple contests that constitute the ongoing dynamics of the polity, and come to a head at the time when the parties and electorate make their choices – between candidates, issues and political platforms.  Papers aimed to analyse contests that take place in social, spatial and institutional terrains - in their historical and scientific contexts.

Contact: Dr. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal
tawalama@ehess.fr

IFP

For more details on these events, please consult our website, at the following address:
http://www.ifpindia.org/-Seminars-Events-.html

Lecture onHow to manage the viability of the economic system with regard to sustainable development stakes: the industrial and territorial ecology, at the IFP on 20^th April 2009.

This paper focused on the potential of industrial and territorial ecology. If the triangle of Kolm is considered, a much wider range of mechanisms of coordination between the actors are available, than the predominant vision lying on market coordination with a small dose of regulation. Apart from market coordination and State planning, the sphere of autonomy also has a potential. Industrial and territorial ecology is based on the analogy with ecosystems and on the analysis of energy and matter exchanges between human society and nature. It aims at a better understanding of impact through a spatialisation of energy and matter flows. Industrial and territorial ecology is a matter of coordination, but should also question the aims of producing goods. Two main strategies relying on better governance might be promising: an increase in territorial autonomy; the economy of functionality. Both strategies were presented in relation with the triangle of Kolm.

Contact: Dr. Nicolas Buclet
nicolas.buclet@utt.fr

Lecture on Leisure, migrations and Ayurvedic healthcare in Kerala, 1870-1990at the IFP on 24^th April 2009.

Following the paths of the migrants, Ayurvedic medicines also found a vibrant market in south eastern countries and Ceylon by the closing decades of the nineteenth century. A similar flow of ideas, drugs and therapeutic practices occurred from the late 70s of the twentieth century onwards to the Middle East. As the knowledge of Ayurvedic medicines came to be popularised by the migrant population of Kerala in the Middle East, there was also a return of the Arabs to Kerala for Ayurvedic healthcare. The paper sought to examine the nature of changes that occurred in the production and preservation of indigenous drugs, as a historical phenomenon, and its subsequent re-organisation as quick fixes to suit the needs of the migrant tourists in Kerala.

Contact: Dr. Burton Cleetus
burton.cleetus@ifpindia.org

International Seminar on Making India a global healthcare destination. Historical and anthropological enquiries on cross-border healthcare jointly organised by the IFP and the Cluster of Excellence ‘Asia & Europe’, University of Heidelberg, Germany, and held at the University of Heidelberg on 14^th & 15^th June 2009.

The Indian therapeutic landscape is produced both within and increasingly beyond the national boundaries of the country. The global circulation of therapeutic techniques and practices, medical knowledge and procedures, patients and therapists – all fashion healthcare in India. These multiple flows also have an impact on the way healthcare is thought, practised and experienced in Europe. Specialised health and wellness institutions incorporate ‘Indian therapies’ in their menu, together with fragments of the subcontinental cultures. The participants of this workshop explored these issues along three main, interrelated axes: transnationalisms, cultural encounters and the transformations of therapeutic practices; labour migration and the health tourism industry; and the global construction of India.

Contact: Dr. Laurent Pordié
laurent.pordie@ifpindia.org

Lecture on Managing metabolic syndromes. Innovation and adaptation in Siddha medicineat the IFP on 9^th July 2009.

Tamil patients turn to Siddha medicine generally after consulting a biomedical doctor. They visit Siddha practitioners mostly for bone and join disorders, sexual troubles, intestinal or skin diseases. However, an increasing part of the clientele today seeks treatment for metabolic syndromes and their correlative disorders. This paper explored the role played by Siddha medicine in this changing scenario. It examined issues of innovation in medical practice and the ways in which practitioners adopt and get adapted to their new clientele.

Firstly, metabolic syndromes were defined, and the reasons for their increase in India were explained. Then, the focus was drawn on the knowledge of Siddha practitioners pertaining to the treatment of metabolic syndromes. How are these interpreted? What kind of advice regarding nutrition and lifestyle are they giving? The manner, in which they create new, deemed efficacious formulations, was also examined. And thirdly, a comparison was made between two forms of therapeutic knowledge: one from traditional milieu and the other from researches conducted by Siddha institutions.

Contact: Dr. Brigitte Sébastia
brigitte.sebastia@ifpindia.org

Lecture on Biomass estimation of the Western Ghatsat the IFP on 10^th July 2009.

The increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its potential effect on the climate is an environmental issue well-dealt with in the world, but its estimation remains confusing. Contributing to both inputs and outputs of carbon cycle, tropical forest biomass changes play a major role in this environmental issue. Within this framework, the paper aimed at exploring potential methods of estimating the biomass stored in the Western Ghats forests. Three main points were developed: proposing Above Ground Biomass estimation for the low elevation dense evergreen forests of the Western Ghats; studying the reliability of the only AGB database specific to the Westerns Ghats; and studying the homogeneity of the forest physiognomy throughout the Western Ghats, in order to find common structural features among the different forest types.

Contact: Théo Flavenot
theo.flavenot@agroparistech.fr

Lecture on Measuring sustainability and environmental performanceat the IFP on 20^th July 2009.

This lecture aims at providing an insight into indicators to be used in a multi-criteria approach to sustainable development, through: 1/ characterisation of the attitudes of industry towards the environment and towards environmental regulations; 2/ identification of the ways in which strong environmental regulation can encourage innovation for cleaner processes, products or industrial systems; 3/ presentation of a set of indicators and index of environmental performance; 4/ discussion of the analytical framework proposed by the European Commission to assess the sustainability impact of international trade measure; and 5/ discussion of aggregate index versus multi-criteria approaches.

Contact: Dr. Patrick Criqui
patrick.criqui@upmf-grenoble.fr

Lecture on Eco-restoration of a wasteland near Pondicherryat the IFP on 31^st July 2009.

The lecture presented an overview of the eco-restoration work carried out by Project Ecolake in a wasteland near Pondicherry. This included the use of hardy pioneer species to green a severely eroded landscape consisting largely of lateritic sandstone in semi-arid conditions through a programme of rain-fed afforestation, and soil conservation measures, along with appropriate water management methods, to reclaim the denuded terrain. This helped regenerate many species of the TDEF (Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest) and increase faunal diversity as well. A fairly wide-ranging botanical collection has also been built up.

Specific areas of research include: soil studies; vermiculture and vermicomposting; phenology of TDEF species; beekeeping with Apis cerana and Trigona iridipennis; melissopalynology; pollination ecology; the potential of some Australian Acacias to provide nutritious seeds from wastelands; the promise of terra preta in enhancing soil health and tackling climate change.

Contact: Mr. Prakash Patel/Ms. Lipi Das
prakashpatel48@gmail.com

Lecture on Companion modelling and tree rights in Kodagu at the IFP on 5^th August 2009.

Coffee plantations in Kodagu are complex multistorey agroforestry systems. Modifying different parameters of the canopy, farmers’ decisions and strategies have a direct impact on their livelihood but also on the biodiversity at the landscape level. These decisions are driven by the complex interactions of economic, agronomical and institutional factors. The consequences are the loss of tree cover and an increase in the proportion of Grevillea robusta at the expense of the native tree species.

Using the Companion Modelling Approach (www.commod.org), these drivers were explored and farmers’ strategies were elicited using Role-Playing-Games. The game reproduces a coffee estate with decisions to be taken to manage the tree cover. It reveals the farmers’ strategies and builds a shared image of the future landscape. Resulting scenarios are discussed between the participants to explore alternate strategies and possible new policies such as Payment for Ecosystem Services schemes or devolution of timber rights to the farmers.

Contact: Dr. Claude Garcia/Mr. Jeremy Vendé
claude.garcia@ifpindia.org / vende.jeremy@gmail.com

International Seminar on Medical and wellness tourism: studies from Asia and Europe jointly organised by the IFP and the Cluster of Excellence ‘Asia & Europe’, University of Heidelberg, and held at the Daejeon Convention Center, Daejeon, South Korea, from 6^th to 9^th August 2009.

Tourism has long been regarded by social scientists as a rather ‘soft’ topic of enquiry. It has, however, become the world’s largest industry over the last two decades and anthropologists have responded by raising the theoretical importance of so-called ‘tourism studies’. The expression “health tourism” was coined in 1987 by Goodrich and Goodrich, with respect to domestic tourism. Researchers later briefly offered some avenues for research into the new, emerging forms of “travel health care services”. Tourism studies alone do not, however, suffice to unpack the complex nature of this phenomenon. The approaches developed in medical anthropology/geography and the social studies of medicine help to revisit and go beyond conventional studies of health tourism. The analytic lens of the proposed panel shifted from one approach to the other, so as to add to the heuristic potential of the project. This panel examined medical and wellness tourism in four different contexts, pertaining to India, Thailand and Germany. The participants were interested in exploring the rise of neo-oriental spas in Europe and Asia, as well as the transnational flows of medical patients from Europe to Asia and among Asian countries. Attention was given to the positive and negative effects of health tourism on Asia’s health care systems, particularly in terms of disparities of access.

Contact: Dr. Laurent Pordié
laurent.pordie@ifpindia.org

International Workshop on Methodology and Tamil studies for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers jointly organised by the IFP and the Tamil Chair, University of California at Berkeley, and held at the IFP on 12^th & 13^th August 2009.

Tamil studies as a discipline has been shaped in part by its porous boundaries and its relationship with more defined disciplines, including Comparative Literature, History, Women's Studies, Political Science, Art History, and Anthropology.  The methodologies used to approach Tamil literature, culture and history vary greatly from one university to another, and from one country to the other.  While this flexibility allows for an intellectual freedom that can generate creative scholarship, it can also leave students of Tamil lost in a methodological soup, or limited to the approach of their advisor.  These different methodological approaches have also tended to isolate Tamil scholars working in different parts of the world, from India to Europe to the USA. 

This one and a half day workshop, co-sponsored by the Tamil Chair, University of California, Berkeley, and IFP, brought together doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from universities in Tamil Nadu and several American universities to discuss the methodologies used in their scholarship, and the strengths and limitations of these approaches.

Contact: Mr. Kannan M./Mrs. Jennifer Clare
kannan.m@ifpindia.org /jennifersclare@yahoo.com

EFEO

Second International Workshop on Early Tantra held from 20^th July to 1^st  August 2009 at the Pondicherry Centre, École française d’Extrême-Orient. The Second International Workshop on Early Tantra was the second of three workshops planned under the Franco-German “Early Tantra Project” co-funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (www.tantric-studies.org/).

Each morning was devoted to reading sessions, which were led by Alexis Sanderson (All Souls, Oxford), Harunaga Isaacson (Hamburg), Martin Delhey (Hamburg), Csaba Kiss (Budapest/EFEO) and Shaman Hatley (Concordia, Montreal).  The reading programme covered early Tantric works in Sanskrit of which editions are being prepared by the team of scholars working in the project. Parts of the following works were read from our editions in progress: the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā, the Brahmayāmala, Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa, a Sanskrit commentary on the Trisamayarājatantra, and the Kalyāṇakāmadhenu.

Around forty scholars and graduate students from around the world attended, many of whom participated actively in discussions of the readings. Every afternoon a lecture-presentation was given by one of the project members.  These lectures are described below.

Lecture by Dominic Goodall On the Tattvas in the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 20^th July 2009.

It is widely known that Śaiva tantric literature teaches a list of 36 entities, known as tattvas, which are said to constitute a comprehensive ontological list of principles making up the universe.  Arranged in a hierarchical order, they map the cosmos. The bottommost and coarsest tattva is that of Earth and the highest and most subtle one is that of Śiva. The bottom 25 entities have been adapted from Sāṅkhya thinkers.  But when were the others added?  Analysis of the Niśvāsa-corpus and comparison with other early tantric literature, in particular the Rauravasūtrasaṅgraha, suggest that the classical list of 36 is  a combination of two different shorter lists and that their fusion may have taken place for the first time in the latest of the sūtras of the Niśvāsa-corpus, namely the Guhyasūtra (6th century?).

Contact: Dr. Dominic Goodall, Head, EFEO, Pondicherry
Dominic.goodall@efeo-pondicherry.org

Lecture by Alexis Sanderson on How Buddhist is the Herukābhidhānatantra? at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 21^st July 2009.

Contact: Prof. Alexis Sanderson, Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, All Souls College, Oxford, UK
alexis.sanderson@all-souls.ox.ac.uk

Lecture by Diwakar Acharya on Glimpses of early Vaiṣṇavism in the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā and the Svāyambhuvapāñcarātra at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 22^nd July 2009.

Contact: Dr. Diwakar Acharya, Kyoto University, Japan
karankini@gmail.com

Lecture by Harunaga Isaacson on The Buddhist Kriyātantras and their exegesis: the Trisamayarājatantraṭīkā and the Kalyāṇakāmadhenu at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 23^rd July 2009.

This lecture considered the Buddhist category of Kriyātantras and the (considerably divergent) views of learned Buddhist authors on Kriyātantra texts and the type of ritual they typically teach. The Kriyātantra-related commentarial works which are known to survive in Sanskrit, the Trisamayarājatantraṭīkā of an unknown author and the Kalyāṇakāmadhenu (one folio of a manuscript of which is now preserved together with the Trisamayarājatantraṭīkā codex), were briefly introduced. Incidentally to this, criteria were presented by which two very similar Eastern-Indian hands, in which a number of important manuscripts of Buddhist tantric works are scribed, can be distinguished. Finally, attention was drawn to the continuities, sometimes very close and indeed even verbal, between Kriyātantra-material and some material in Yoginītantra scriptures.

Contact: Professor Harunaga Isaacson, University of Hamburg, Germany
Harunaga.Isaacson@uni-hamburg.de

Lecture by Martin Delhey on Miscellaneous remarks on the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 24^th July 2009.

The lecture consisted of two parts. In the beginning, new insights and discoveries regarding the textual witnesses of the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa were communicated to the participants of the workshop. In particular, the Sanskrit manuscripts and the *Tārāmūlakalpa (only preserved in Tibetan), which in its first section usually agrees literally with the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa, were dealt with.  In the second part of the lecture, it was shown that the authors or compilers of the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa have in some places of this kriyātantra attempted to justify the new teachings on the attainment of worldly success by means of rituals from the point of view of Buddhist ethics and spirituality. The hypothesis was put forward that they were not yet able to do this in a way which was very convincing for the more conservative Buddhist scholars of their time.

Contact: Dr. Martin Delhey, Postdoctoral researcher in the project "Early Tantra" funded by the DFG and ANR, University of Hamburg, Germany
mdelhey@yahoo.com

Lecture by Csaba Kisson The category of the Sādhaka in the Brahmayāmalatantra at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th July 2009.

Brahmayāmala chapter 45 gives a 674-verse-long account of the three types of sādhakas: of the śuddha-tālaka (of sexual and transgressive rituals), the śuddhāśuddha-miśraka (a chaste and beginner tālaka) and the aśuddha-carubhojin (a vegetarian brahmacārin). Their hierarchical system allows for various interpretations: on the one hand, as regards purity, which is based on religious acts performed in their previous lives, the tālaka is the highest rank, the carubhojin the lowest.  On the other hand, the carubhojin, having never fallen, seems to be the most directly successful of them. In addition, the miśraka is not an independent category, but only an introductory stage before being a tālaka. The analysis of Brahmayāmala 45 reveals an odd, complex and early classification of the sādhaka, from a period when initiation (dīkṣā) was still only one of the rites of passage rather than the central and fully liberating ritual of later tantras.

Contact: Dr. Csaba Kiss, EFEO (Project "Early Tantra" funded by the DFG and ANR),
csaba.kiss@yahoo.co.uk

Lecture by Judit Törzsök on The alphabet goddess Mātṛkā in some early Śaiva tantras at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th July 2009.

This paper attempted to explore how the concept of Mātṛkā, the alphabet goddess, developed in Śaiva tantras. The earliest layer of texts does not yet seem to mention this goddess. In the relatively later parts of the Niśvāsa, one can follow the way in which her figure and cult slowly develops through various homologisations and prescriptions of her worship. Subsequently, she also becomes associated with the eight mother goddesses in Bhairavatantras. Furthermore, in the second half of the Siddhayogeśvarīmata she is transformed into a male double of Śiva, Śabdarāśi, a figure most probably borrowed from a Saiddhāntika source. The main alphabet goddess of this text, Mālinī, ‘The Garlanded One,’ is probably the latest among the alphabet deities to appear, but her name figures as an epithet of the alphabet goddess already in the Brahmayāmala. All three alphabet deities were then recognised by non-dualist exegetes. According to their presentation, when Mātṛkā was ‘creatively shaken’ by Śabdarāśi, she became Mālinī, the unordered alphabet.

Contact: Dr. Judit Törszök, Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille III, France
torzsokjudit@hotmail.com

Lecture by Shaman Hatley on Clans of the goddesses: kulabheda in the Brahmayāmalatantra at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 29^th July 2009.

This presentation engaged with aspects of the Brahmayāmala's classification of female divinities according to 'clans' (kula). The first section outlined a fourfold taxonomy of yakṣiṇīs taught in Brahmayāmala, chapter 65, which groups these divinities into clans called the yakṣakula, brahmakula, padmakula, and vajrakula. After adducing parallels from the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa, we discussed the possibility that the Brahmayāmala's yakṣiṇī-chapter was drawn from a Buddhist kriyātantra, perhaps with relatively minor modification. The subsequent section reviewed passages from the Brahmayāmala outlining various ways by which women were held to become yoginīs. This was supplemented by a close reading of Brahmayāmala 99, which situates the divisions of goddess clans in relation to the hierarchy of tattvas and other cosmological categories.

Contact: Dr. Shaman Hatley, Concordia University, Canada
shatley@alcor.concordia.ca

Lecture by Peter Bisschop on A 12th-century (?) Vārāṇasīmāhātmya and its account of a hypethral Yoginī templeat the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 29^th July 2009.

This paper introduces a hitherto unknown Vārāṇasīmāhātmya, transmitted in a Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript belonging to the Kaiser Library in Kathmandu, microfilmed by the NGMPP on reel C 6/3. The paper focuses on chapter 8 of the text, which describes a Yoginī site in Vārāṇasī, associated with a group of goddesses called the Pañcamudrās. The passage is unique, because various elements in its description suggest that it concerns a hypethral Yoginī temple. Archeological remains of such temples dating from the 10th-13th century are well known, but period literary descriptions are very rare. The main feature of the site described in the text is the khecarīcakra, a circle of Kulayoginīs said to have existed in material form at the site, but of which a vision in the sky can be gained by the ardent devotee. References to the goddess Siddhayogeśvarī, Piṅgalā and the presence of Kulayogins possibly point to a Trika connection of the site.

Contact: Dr. Peter Bisschop, University of Edinburgh, UK
peter.bisschop@ed.ac.uk

Lecture by Diwakar Acharya on Fragments of palm-leaves and titbits of evidence: A report of some otherwise unknown Bhūta- and Gāruḍa-Tantras at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 30^th July 2009.

Contact: Dr. Diwakar Acharya, Kyoto University, Japan
karankini@gmail.com

Lecture by Nirajan Kafle on The rewriting of the Niśvāsamukha to create part of the Śivadharmasaṅgraha at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 31^st July 2009.

This lecture presented evidence to show that the many hundreds of verses found both in the Niśvāsamukha and in the Śivadharmasaṅgraha were borrowed and modified by the redactor of the Śivadharmasaṅgraha.  Most of the modifications are intended to clarify the phrasing and to improve away perceived faults of language.  The lecture concluded with a comparison of a number of what are probably the earliest surviving accounts of the liṅgodbhava myth, in which Śiva appeared in the form of a column of fire before Brahmā and Viṣṇu.

Contact: Nirajan Kafle, EFEO (Project "Early Tantra" funded by the DFG and ANR) Pondicherry, India
nirajan.kafle@gmail.com

Classical Tamil Summer Seminar  2009 organised by the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO, 3^rd to 28^th August 2009.

This year the Classical Tamil Seminar (www.efeo.fr/CTSS_2009/index.htm ) has been, once again, a Summer Seminar, for the simple reason that we had planned a double event, that is, a seminar followed by a workshop. The whole month was thus devoted to Tamil bhakti, devotional literature. Out of the two weeks, one was devoted to Śaiva texts, and here we had chosen the work of Kāraikkālammaiyār, probably the earliest part of the Tirumuṟai, and certainly not the easiest. In fact, we were able to cover the Tiruvālaṅkāṭṭu Mūttatiruppatikam, two decades devoted to Śiva dancing on the cremation ground frequented by pēy, female demons. We also had a look at the 12th century retelling of Kāraikkālammaiyār’s story in the Periya Purāṇam. The second week focused on Vaiṣṇava literature. Out of the oeuvre of another female poet, Āṇṭāḷ, we chose the Nācciyārtirumoḻi, less well-known than the Tiruppāvai, a decadic collection of Akam-like stanza in praise of Viṣṇu. The mornings were spent by reading and discussing texts with pandit T.S. Gangadharan (EFEO Pondy, Śaiva) and R. Varadadesikan (EFEO Pondy, Vaiṣṇava). The afternoons were taken up by reading inscriptions with G. Vijayavenugopal and by an introduction into Tamil Grammatical literature with J.-L. Chevillard (CNRS Paris). On four days, lectures rounded up the day. For the final two weeks, then, scholars read and discussed particular texts chosen by them in order to elucidate different aspects of internal and external chronology of Tamil bhakti texts, on which see below.

Contact: Dr. Eva Wilden, EFEO/Hamburg University
wilden.eva@gmail.com

Dr. Thomas Lehmann
thomas.lehmann@uni-heidelberg.de

Dr. Jean-Luc Chevillard
jean-luc.chevillard@univ-paris-diderot.fr

Lecture by Torsten Tschacher on The Theory and Practice of ‘Translation’ in Islamic Tamil Literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 4^th August 2009.

Torsten Tschacher discussed how the notion of ‘translation’ was conceptualised and put into practice in Islamic Tamil literature since the late 16^th century. Until the beginning of the modern era, it can be shown that ‘translation’ was understood and performed as a kind of commentary. Poets generally referred to the translations made for them by religious scholars as ‘commentaries’, and this usage is also borne out by the single ‘commentary-translation’ surviving from the 18^th century as well as 19^th century theological texts. On the basis of such commentaries, poets then proceeded to compose ornate Tamil poetry. At the beginning of the 20^th century, the notion of ‘literal translation’ displaced these earlier models of rendering Arabic texts in Tamil medium, thereby obscuring the ‘translatedness’ of pre-modern Islamic Tamil prose and poetry.

Contact: Dr. Torsten Tschacher, University of Heidelberg, Germany
ttschacher@gmx.de

Lecture by Timothy Lubin on Indic conceptions of legal authority at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 6^th August 2009.

Timothy Lubin presented an experiment in comparative jurisprudence, asking how Indic legal traditions have conceived of what in the West is called authority.  Drawing on evidence both from scholastic treatises and from legal documents (including inscriptions and legal formulary compendia), he argued that two influential concepts — pramāṇa and adhikāra — largely  correspond to 'epistemic authority' and 'practical authority' in Euro-American jurisprudence, although in practice pramāṇa can do double duty, that is, as 'proof' and as 'authorisation'.

Contact: Dr. Timothy Lubin, Washington and Lee University, USA
lubint@wlu.edu

Lecture by A.R. Venkatachalapathy onMuttoḷḷāyiram: Convention, Context, Chronology at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 11^th August 2009.

A.R. Venkatachalapathy gave an exposé on one of the smaller Classical Tamil texts belonging to the first millennium, the Muttoḷḷāyiram, an anthology of four-line poems dedicated to kings from the three royal houses Cōḻa, Cēra and Pāṇṭiya. Most probably the collection once comprised 900 poems, hence the title (“nine hundred on the three [kings]”). The Muttoḷḷāyiram constitutes one of the early instances of genre mix, since the Puṟam aspect, that is, the praise of a king, is entwined with the Akam aspect, that is, the desirability of the king and his infallible attraction for the women of his realm. A date of composition well before the 9^th century was suggested on the grounds that the presentation of royalty seemed   conceptually early than what is to be found in inscriptions.

Contact: Dr Prof. A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
chalapathy@mids.ac.in

Lecture by Cristina Muruon Using Latin to interpret Tamil. The first attempts made by Western missionaries to describe the Tamil language at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 13^th August 2009.

Cristina Muru’s presentation focused on several missionary grammars of Tamil written in Portuguese and on one Tamil–Portuguese Dictionary. Henrique Henriques in his Sumario da Arte Malavar, dating back approximately to 1548-1549, invented some new letters which could be useful in the representation of sounds peculiar to the phonological system of Tamil language and unknown to Portuguese, such as <Ѵ> used to represent .ற. and .ã. used for .ழ. Some ‘Titles’ of the manuscript version of Antão De Proença’s Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary (17^th century) can be defined as small treatises of articulatory phonetics. Father Balthassar da Costa in his Arte Tamul  reduced the number of Tamil case-markers to six, with a view to reflecting the Latin model; another anonymous grammar, Ms 188, and Henriques’s grammar both tried to find five declinations of the Tamil noun which could fit the Latin classification. These three grammars, together with the Dictionary, possibly represent the first attempts made by the missionaries, who were not yet totally conscious of the Tamil grammatical tradition, to describe Tamil.

Contact: Dr. Cristina Muru, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
cristinamuru78@hotmail.com

International Workshop on the Internal and External Chronology of Tamil Bhakti organised by the centre of the École Française d’Extrême-Orient in Pondicherry from 17^th  to 28^th August 2009.

Tamil devotional literature (bhakti) comprises quite an enormous oeuvre of texts with different sectarian affiliations. Apart from some precursors in early classical literature, the first millennium sees the advent of a Śaiva corpus, later canonised and named the 12 Tirumuṟai, and a Vaiṣṇava corpus, the Tivviyappirapantam. Dating, as for most early Tamil texts, is a problem that has raised much discussion. In brief, one can say that the traditional approach to the matter is largely based on the transmitted legendary material, such as the life stories of poet-saints, the Nāyaṉmār and Āḻvār, found in the 12^th century Periya-Purāṇam and Divyacūricaritam respectively. This workshop was meant to revisit the issues of (text-internal) chronology. On the one hand, texts and their interrelation were discussed on the basis of linguistic development (morphology plus syntax) and of intertextual relationship and literary affiliation; on the other hand, the ways in which bhakti texts are reflected in inscriptions and the impact they had on iconographical representation were examined. 

The Pondicherry workshop worked on two levels. In the two-week seminar, seven days were devoted to common reading sessions of particular text passages selected and introduced by individual scholars. These sessions were split into one morning and one afternoon parts, the duration depending on the length and complexity of the chosen text and the intensity of the general discussion. The last three days were devoted to lecture-presentations, for which see below.

For more details about the workshop, see www.efeo.fr/en/recherche/indologie_8.shtml

Lecture by R. Varada Desikan on Vaishnava Tamil literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 26^th August 2009.

The paper presents the data in two parts, viz., the ancient period (from 2^nd century B.C. to 2^nd century A.D.) and the modern period (from the 7^th century onwards). The paper points out that in the ancient period there were no epics on Vaiṣṇavism but only stray verses. However, the Caṅkam period and the period immediately following it throw much light on the supremacy of Viṣṇu and His qualities, sports, incarnations, His omniscient state etc. His vehicle Garuḍa, and His bed Ādiseṣa are referred to in the Paripāṭal. Only five holy shrines of Viṣṇu in Tamil Nadu find place in Caṅkam literature. The Onam festival and a few other festivals are described in the ancient period. Some stories connected with Rāma which are not found in the present Rāmāyaṇas are mentioned in Caṅkam literature. Coming to the modern period, one notices that the Āḻvārs' hymns enrich Vaiṣṇava literature between the 6^th and 9^th centuries. Here, instead of stray verses we find groups of verses, consisting of poems which glorify Viṣṇu. After the 9^th century, epics on Viṣṇu and His sacred sports predominate in Vaiṣṇava literature. Among them, the Kamparāmāyaṇam, Villipputturar's Bhāratam, Nallappiḷḷai's Bhāratam are remarkable. Besides these, there are more than 70 works written in various centuries.

Contact: Dr. R. Varada Desikan, EFEO, Pondicherry
administration@efeo-pondicherry.org

Lecture by G. Vijayavenugopal on Bhakti movement and Cankam literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 26^th August 2009.

Contact: Dr. G. Vijayavenugopal, EFEO, Pondicherry
gvvg@efeo-pondicherry.org

Lecture by Saraswati Sainathon The Puṟam ethos in the sixth Tirumuṟai of Appār’s Tēvāram at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 26^th August 2009.

Of the many myths of Śiva, Appar refers to nearly 57 myths in his sixth Tirumuṟai. It is argued that Appar’s selection of mythic motifs mirror puṟam aesthetics. To support this argument, the myth of Śiva destroying the three demon cities is taken as an example and linguistic and content analysis is applied to show the influence of Puṟanāṉūṟu in Appar’s description of this myth. By imaging Śiva as a fierce destroyer and a winner of battles like the puṟam kings, Appar develops a Tamil identity for Śiva.

Contact: Dr. R. Saraswati Sainath, McGill University, Canada
rsaraswati.sainath@mail.mcgill.ca

Lecture by Eva Wildenon Transposition techniques in Nammāḻvār's Akam songs at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 26^th August 2009.

The Tiruvāymoḻi counts, according to Hardy (1983), no less than 26 decades of Akam songs among its more than a thousand poems. 24 of them occur in Hardy’s table of distribution and classification. Even so this is almost a quarter of the whole text. In fact, however, depending on how one understands the word ‘Akam song’, several more decades ought to be included, perhaps at least as many as 27. What, then, is an Akam song? It is a bhakti poem where the relationship between God and devotee is depicted along the lines of the model of lover and beloved developed by classical Tamil Akam poetry. Usually God takes the position of the male lover, the devotee that of the female lover. The general opinion is that the basic bhakti Akam poem is an adaptation of the Mullai setting. In fact, three things can be observed. Firstly, tiṇai elements are imported on a much broader basis, and if there is a preponderance, it is of Kuṟiñci. Secondly, bhakti stereotypes only a small number of Akam situations, creating on the way some new and some mixed forms. Thirdly, intertextual repercussions within the classical heritage are much less marked than those within the bhakti corpus itself, one obvious reason for that being the decade composition principle.

Contact: Dr. Eva Wilden, EFEO Paris/University of Hamburg
wilden.eva@gmail.com

Lecture by Dominic Goodall on Śaiva theologies in the Tēvāram at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

Secondary literature commonly assumes some sort of privileged relation between the Śaiva devotional hymns of the Tēvāram with one particular Śaiva theological school, namely that of the Śaivasiddhānta.  But is the existence of such a relation really borne out by the hymns themselves?  In the last decade, much has been discovered from Sanskrit sources about the early history of Śaivism, both of the Atimārga and the Mantramārga, and we now have an invaluable tool for the study of the Tamil corpus in the form of the Digital Tēvāram CD, published by the EFEO and IFP in Pondicherry, so a new assessment of the evidence on this question seems called for.

Contact: Dr. Dominic Goodall, Head, EFEO, Pondicherry
Dominic.goodall@efeo-pondicherry.org

Lecture by S. Kulasekaran on Nammalvar's period: a defining moment in the history of Vaisnavism at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

Contact: Dr. S. Kulasekaran, Chennai

Lecture by K.K.A. Venkatachari on Āḻvārs’ Tamil bhakti hymns: travels through Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Stotra literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatapurāṇa is greatly influenced by the Āḻvārs’ Bhakti literature. Without mentioning the names of the Āḻvārs, it mentions their birth places, such as the Tāmraparaṇi, Kāvīri and Pālār rivers. In the Bhāgavata, the portion narrating Kṛṣṇa’s birth could be compared with Periyāḻvār’s first decade, which describes the Kṛṣṇāvatāra. There are many more instances of similarity between the Tamil hymns and the Bhāgavata. After the Bhāgavata, Yāmuna’s Stotraratna, Kāreśa’s Pañcastava, Parāsara-Bhaṭṭa’s Śrīraṅgarājastava all show the influence of the Divyaprabandham. Vedānta Deśika too devoted two Sanskrit works to the Tiruvāymoḻi, in which he gives the gist of Nammāḻvār’s poetry.

Contact: Dr. K.K.A. Venkatachari, Chennai

Lecture by Jean-Luc Chevillard on Meters in bhakti literature and the problem of their (eventual) description in treatises at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

One of the most visible features of the bhakti corpus seems to be the almost exclusive use of the stanzaic form, whereas in the Eṭṭuttokai stanzas are found only in the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu. There is indeed no codification for the use of stanza form inside the Ceyyuḷiyal of the Tolkāppiyam (T), although Iḷampūraṇar manages to explain under TP484i that this form of composition falls under paṇṇatti (first mentioned in TP482i). (Pērāciriyar, however, has a different interpretation.) In doing this, Iḷampūraṇar presents, in a nutshell, the 12 items called pāviṉam, often called "auxiliary metres", for which the standard treatment is found in the Yāpparuṅkalam (YA) and the Yāpparuṅkalakkārikai (YK). We can be certain that this not very homogeneous classificatory grouping, which has some of its roots in the kali genre, and on which an exploration of the Cilappatikāram can also throw light, came into being after the T but before the time of the YK and YA (to be followed by the Vīracōḻiyam), because a large commentary, called the Yāpparuṅkala-Virutti, while explaining the pāviṉam described by the YA, quotes fragments from the lost works of early theoreticians. To the above must be added the consideration that there appears to exist a strong correlation inside the bhakti corpus between the use of various types of stanza and the use of various musical modes (or paṇs), if we are to believe S. Subrahmanyan [1977: 361-364]. Numerous pieces of information about this correlation are also found in the 15th section (pp. 375-421) of the Tēvāram Āyvut ṭuṇai (1991, PIFI 68.3), jointly prepared by T.V. Gopal Iyer and T.S. Gangadharan. The paper attempted to trace the lineaments of this complex corpus.

Contact: Dr. J.-L. Chevillard, CNRS, Paris
jean-luc.chevillard@univ-paris-diderot.fr

Lecture by T.S. Gangadharan on Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi's Contribution to Periya Purāṇam at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

Umāpaticivam (who should not be known as Civācārya) who composed the hagiographical Cēkkiḻār Purāṇam condemns the celebrated literary epic, the Cīvakacintāmaṇi, as the fabrication of fraudulent and crafty Jains (muraṭṭu amaṇ tiruṭṭu-p-puraṭṭu-c-cintāmaṇi). However, this paper tried to refute this claim and to present the real situation and demonstrated that the Cīvakacintāmaṇi was rather a forerunner and a model for the composition of Cēkkiḻār’s Periyapurāṇam.

Contact: Dr. T.S. Gangadharan, EFEO, Pondicherry
administration@efeo-pondicherry.org

Lecture by Thomas Lehmann on Morphological changes from post-Cankam to early middle Tamil at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 27^th August 2009.

Contact: Dr. Thomas Lehmann, SAI, EFEO
thomas.lehmann@uni-heidelberg.de

Lecture by A. Pandurangan on Trends in Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava bhakti literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009.

Before the dawn of bhakti movement we have a few poems praising Cevvēḷ (Murukaṉ) and Tirumāl (Viṣṇu) in Paripāṭal. From these poems we find that each group adhered to their own godhead as the Supreme Being. But they did not clash among themselves claiming that their own deity is the Supreme Being.

At the dawn of the bhakti movement the same attitude prevailed. The first three Āḻvārs and the Śaivite Nāyaṉār, Kāraikkālammaiyār who was the predecessor of the Tēvāram hymnologists, sung the praise of their own God as the Supreme Being. The early Āḻvārs even attempted to unite Hari and Hara. Similarly Kāraikkālammaiyār equally praises Viṣṇu in some of her poems.

The next generation of Āḻvārs and Nāyaṉmārs conducted a virulent criticism against the non-Vedic religions. When they gained the support of the ruling kings they achieved their target very easily. When their goal was achieved, simmering voices erupted between the Śaivites and the Vaiṣṇavites. Tiruñāṉacampantar made it a point to denigrate Viṣṇu in most of his patikams in the ninth hymn. Tirunāvulakaralar and Centarar followed his path. Māṇikkavācakar went one step further in denigrating Viṣṇu.

Āḻvārs paid back in the same coin through their contempt towards Śiva. By using  legendary stories which are by nature contradictory they tried to uphold their own God as the Supreme Being. This paper discussed the nature of these trends in the Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava bhakti movements.

Contact: Dr. A. Pandurangan, Pondicherry

Lecture by Emmanuel Francis onThe Pallavas in bhakti literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009.

The aim of this paper was to present a critical overview of the available sources concerning the connection between the Pallava dynasty and the Tamil Bhakti of the Nāyaṉmārs and Āḻvārs. It dealt with hymns from the Tēvāram and the Tivviyappirapantam, inscriptions from the Pallava corpus, sculptures from the Pallava royal temples, and temple sites (in order, in this latter case, to assess the correspondence between Pallava royal sites and hymn sites). The conclusion is that, in spite of a conception, explicit or implicit, of a close relation between the Pallava dynasty and the Tamil Bhakti, there are few arguments supporting this view.

Contact: Dr. Emmanuel Francis, University of Louvain, Belgium
manufrancis@hotmail.com

Lecture by Charlotte Schmid onArchaeology, epigraphy and the Tirumurai: the cases of Tirucennampunti, Puncai and Tirumankalam at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009.

Contact: Dr. Charlotte Schmid, EFEO, Paris
scharlottes@hotmail.com

Lecture by Leslie Orr onThe sacred landscape of Tamil Śaivism: constructing connections and plotting place at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009 on the occasion of the International Workshop on the Internal and External Chronology of Tamil Bhakti.

The Śaiva sacred landscape of the Tamil country is made up of numerous sites where Lord Śiva's presence is manifest.  Many of these places receive mention in the hymns of Tēvāram, composed in the 7^th-9^th centuries by the three poet-saints Campantar, Appar, and Sundarar. Other sites are important to Śaivas for different reasons. This paper explored the variety of ways in which the Śaiva sacred landscape has been mapped, from the times of the poet-saints up until the 15^th century.  The representations and relevance of sacred landscape were considered in Tēvāram, in the 12^th-century Periya Purāṇam (which depicts the poet-saints as pilgrims in a network of sacred places), and in temple traditions (which link places together or forge associations between the temple site and the saints), as well as in the inscriptions engraved on the temple walls.  By tracing chronological change and by comparing the perspectives presented in these various sources, an attempt was made to understand how the tradition accommodated a diversity of definitions of the religious landscape and to discover if and how the mapping of sacred space contributed to the consolidation of this sectarian tradition.

Contact: Dr. Leslie Orr, Concordia University, Canada
orr@vax2.concordia.ca

Lecture by Katherine Young on Negotiating Śrīvaiṣṇava identity, canonising place at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009.

Among the many Vaiṣṇava temples in Tamil Nadu are the beloved places (divyadeśaḥ; ukantaruḷinanilaṅkaḷ). These are conventionally understood as 96 of the 108 places praised by the Āḻvārs between the 7^th and the 9^th centuries. This paper showed how the concept of 108 beloved places evolves from epithets, devotional Avisions, and names of places in the Āḻvār hymns to enumerations in works by Amutaṉār, Piḷḷaipperumālaiyyaṅkar, and others.  More specifically, it discussed the significance of the sacred number 108, its relation to the process of canonisation of the Āḻvār hymns, and its effect on regional identities within Tamil Nadu. To account for variations among the lists, one must look to at Pañcarātrin and Vaikhanasa priests, Teṉkalai and Vaṭakalai ācāryas, authors of sthalapurāṇas, movement of images to a new temple, and so forth.  Finally, the paper examined how some temples that were left out of these lists have tried to negotiate temple status to attract patrons and pilgrims.

Contact: Dr. Katherine Young, McGill University, Canada
katherine.young@mcgill.ca

Lecture by K. Rajanon Burial practices and Caṅkam literature at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 28^th August 2009.

Contact: Professor K. Rajan, Pondicherry University
rajanarchy@gmail.com

WELCOME

…at the CSH

Dr. Marie-Hélène ZERAH, Research Fellow, Institut de Recherche sur le Développement (IRD), Paris, joined CSH as the Head of the “Urban dynamics” division in May 2009.

Diya MEHRA,researcher in Anthropology joined the “Politics and society” division as post-doctoral fellow in June 2009.

Iqbal SHAILO,Ph. D candidate, Carleton University, joined the CSH for 3 weeks in June-July 2009.

Kim ROBIN, Masters 2 student,Sciences Po, joined the Economics division as an intern on 4^th July 2009 for 5 months.

Rosalinda COPPOLETTA, ENSAE-Polytechnique, joined the Palanpur project at CSH on 28^th August 2009 as an intern for 4 months.

…at the IFP

Prof. Yellava SUBBARAYALU, Professor from Tamil University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, who had joined the Indology department on 1^st June, 2005 to head the project on the “Historical Atlas of South India”, was appointed at the beginning of the year 2009, as the new Head of the Indology Department at the IFP.

Damien LÉCOLE, software engineer from the Technological University of Compiègne, France, joined the IFP as an International Civil Volunteer (VCI) from 9^th April 2009 to 28^th February 2010. He is assigned to the LAIG and will be working on Web-mapping applications, notably in the framework of the Shiva project, as well as on the development of other computer applications.

Jeremy VENDÉ, Masters student in “Forest, Nature and Society” from AgroParisTech-ENGREF, France, joined the Managing biodiversity in mountain landscapes project from 3^rd May 2009 to 15^th October 2009, as a trainee, to work on the Responses of local actors to public conservation policies: The example of rights on trees, in the coffee agro-forest systems of the Western Ghats of India under the supervision of Dr. Claude GARCIA.

Dr. Eric DENIS joined the Institute on 19^th May 2009, as a researcher and new head of the Social Sciences Department. He was previously "Chargé de recherche" at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), at the Mixed Research Unit 7135 “Societies in development, in space and in time”, University Paris 7, Denis Diderot, France.

Prof. David BUCK from Elisabethtown joined the Institute as a visiting scholar from 1^st August 2009 to 30^th September 2009, to work on Tamil Dalit literature translation with KANNAN. M

Elizabeth SEGRAN from SSEAS, University of California at Berkeley, joined the Institute as a visiting student from 1^st July to 30^th September, 2009, to work on Gender studies and Cankam literature with KANNAN. M and Prof. François GROS.

Richa LEE, student from the University of Columbia, USA, joined the Institute as an affiliated scholar, from 1^st July 2009 to 31^st August 2010, to work on the topic Tamil merchant temples in India and China under the supervision of Prof. SUBBARAYALU and KANNAN. M

Dr. V. MUTHUKUMAR from SSEAS, University of California at Berkeley, joined the Institute as an affiliated scholar to work on the topic Cankam literature from August 2009 to August 2010 under the supervision of KANNAN. M

Pierre PLOTON,agricultural engineer from the Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture d’Angers, France joined the Institute from 17^th August 2009 to 31^st January 2010, as a trainee, to work on Textural analysis of very high resolution images, under the supervision of Dr. Raphaël PÉLISSIER.

Simon SCHMIDT, from Leiden University joined the Institute as an affiliated scholar from 1^st September 2009 to 31^st August 2010, to work on the theme Tamil correspondence in the 18^th century under the supervision of Prof. SUBBARAYALU and KANNAN. M

…at the EFEO

Anne DAVRINCHE, student of the Ecole du Louvre, came to the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO on 2^nd July for a period of 3 months in order to prepare a catalogue of the art objects displayed in the EFEO premises. She is working under the supervision of Valérie GILLET.

Alicia GARDIES, student of the University of Perpignan, came to the EFEO Centre of Pondicherry during the month of August to observe and participate in the preparation of the catalogue of the art objects of the EFEO in Pondicherry.

Raphaëlle MAUGER, student of the Ecole du Louvre, has come to the EFEO Centre of Pondicherry on 25^th August for a period of 6 months to work on the Digital Photo Archives of the EFEO under the supervision of Valérie GILLET.

Hugo DAVID, doctoral student at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, has returned to the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO to continue his studies in the philosophical Sanskrit literature of Vedānta.

GOODBYE

…at the CSH

Damien KRICHEWSKY, Affiliate Ph. D candidate, Sciences Po, left in April 2009.

Bertrand LEFEBVRE, Affiliate Ph. D candidate, University of Rouen, left in May 2009.

Soline MINIERE, Intern, Ecole Polytechnique, left in June 2009.

Cécile FANTON D'ANDON, Intern, Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique, left in July 2009.

Aditya KAWATRA, Intern, Ecole Polytechnique, left in July 2009.

Pierre MEIGNAN, Intern, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Toulouse, left in July 2009.

Loraine KENNEDY, Head of the “Economic reforms and sustainable development” division since September 2007 left in August 2009.

Stéphanie TAWA LAMA-REWAL, Head of the “Political and society” division since 2005 left in August 2009.

Cyril ROBIN, post-doctoral Affiliate, “Political and society” division, left in August 2009.

Frédéric LEMAIRE, Intern, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Rennes left in August 2009.

Mikaëla LE MEUR, Intern, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Rennes left in August 2009.

…at the IFP

Dilip VENUGOPAL, who had joined the Dynamics of Forest Diversity project on 8^th December 2008 to do a study on the diversity of Karnataka forests under the supervision of Dr. Raphaël PELISSIER, left on 8^th June 2009 to do his thesis at the New York University.

PONNARASU S., who had joined the Rural Microfinance and Employment project on 1^st July 2008, to carry out surveys in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and other States of India, to process data and organise seminars under the supervision of Dr. Marc ROESCH, left on 30^th June 2009.

Théo FLAVENOT, student with a certificate in general agronomy from AgroParisTech, France, who had joined the Dynamics of Forest Diversity project on 12^th January 2009, as a trainee, to work on the Estimation of Organic Biomass stored in the forests of the Western Ghats under the supervision of Dr. Raphaël PELISSIER, left on 10^th July 2009.

Soraya DODAT, Master 2 student in Information and Communication, Management and Intercultural Communication from the Sorbonne University–CELSA, Paris, France, who had joined the Social Management of Water project on 17^th June as a trainee, to work on Water conflicts in Kerala, under the supervision of Dr. Eric DENIS, left on 12^th August 2009.

Aurélien CARBONNIÈRE, scientific expert on maritime issues at the European Science Foundation in Brussels, Belgium, who had joined the IFP on 8^th August as a trainee, to draft an IFP-PondyCAN project on Management of Coastal Zones in Tamil Nadu, left on 29^th August 2009.

Sébastien MICHIELS, Masters 2 student in “Development Economics” at the University Montesquieu, Bordeaux IV, France, who had joined the Labour, Finance and Social Dynamics programme, as a trainee, on 1^st June 2009 , working under the supervision of Dr. Isabelle GUÉRIN, left on 4^th September 2009.

Mathilde LEBRAND, student from the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique (ENSAE) ParisTech, France, who had joined the Institute, on 20^th June 2009, as a trainee, to work on The relations between real and financial spheres, under the supervision of Prof. Vêlayoudom MARIMOUTOU, left on 18^th September 2009.

MILESTONES

Prof N.S. Ramanuja TATACHARYA has just been awarded the title  ‘SHASTRAKALPADRUMA ‘

Professor Navalpakkam Ramanuja TATACHARYA, professor associated to the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), leading authority in the fields of shastras (sciences), that are the Nyaya, the Vyakarana, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta, was awarded the title ‘SHASTRAKALPADRUMA’ by Mr. Kapil SIBAL, Minister for Human Resource Development of the Government of India, during a ceremony which was held at the Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan in New Delhi on 12^th September, 2009.

 This title, along with several other previous ones, rewards his numerous scholarly works, and more specifically the Sabdabodhamimamsa, an inquiry into Indian theories of verbal cognition.

For more information on the Sabdabodhamimamsa: http://www.ifpindia.org/Les-Doctrines-Indiennes-de-la-Philosophie-du-Langage.html

Contact: Dr. François Grimal
francois.grimal@gmail.com

OBITUARY

We are sad to inform you that Pandit N. R. BHATT, aged 88, passed away on 19^th July 2009 at his residence in Mandavalli, Mylapore, Chennai, at around 9 am.

Dr. N. R. BHATT was born on 24^th July 1920, in the State of Karnataka. He studied Vyakarana Siromani at the Venkateshvara Sanskrit College in Tirupati.

Member of the EFEO and for many years in charge of Indological projects conducted at the French Institute of Pondicherry, Dr. N. R. BHATT was the principal collector of the manuscripts of the IFP.  He travelled throughout South India visiting monasteries, temples and private collections, always searching in particular for Śaiva manuscripts, but often bringing back entire collections that included also a great variety of other texts, which explains why the library now contains so much besides Śaiva material.  In addition to collecting old palm-leaf manuscripts, he had manuscripts of many Śaiva works transcribed into Devanagari, in clearly legible characters on uniform-sized pages.  He thus assembled in Pondicherry the largest collection of Śaivasiddhānta manuscripts in the world, which was recognised by the UNESCO as a “Memory of the World” collection in 2005.

His numerous editions of Śaiva texts, published in the series that is now known as the Collection Indologie, made him famous in indological circles throughout the world.  Of particular note is his monumental two-volume edition of a major work of 10^th century Kashmirian scholarship, the commentary of Rāmakaṇṭha on the Mataṅgapārameśvarāgama.  A felicitation volume honouring him for his life's achievements appeared in 1994, but he continued to publish thereafter, and collaborated (with Jean Filliozat and Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat) in the production of one more important book, a five-volume edition and English translation of the Ajitamahātantra (IGNCA, 2005).

Before joining the EFEO in Pondicherry, an institution where he served from 1956 to 1991, he worked from 1939 at the Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai, where he became assistant librarian and assistant editor of the Adyar Library Bulletin.  His first research work there was on medical literature and he published three works in Kannada and Sanskrit in this field.

Dr. N. R. BHATT was a pioneer of the academic study of the Śaiva traditions and his contribution to this field has been quite simply enormous.

His funeral service was held in Chennai on 19^th July at 12 pm.

D. Goodall
Head of the Pondicherry Centre of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient

V. Marimoutou
Director of the French Institute of Pondicherry

PUBLICATIONS

CSH

Agriculture and Food in India: A Half-century Review from Independence to Globalization

Bruno Dorin, Frédéric Landy
Manohar-CSH-Editions Quae, Delhi, 2009, 280 pp., English, Rs. 695
ISBN 978-81-7304-812-8

More than a fifth of the world’s farmers live in India, which has over a billion inhabitants to support and feed. From Independence in 1947 to the lifting of trade barriers in 2001, this book explains how the Indian Union has succeeded in becoming one of the world’s leading food producers, but also why it is still a land of poverty.

Various aspects of the question are addressed, from the environment (cultural and natural, local and international) to institutions and food products. The ins and outs of the green revolution are obviously discussed, but so are those of other less familiar coloured revolutions (white for dairy, yellow for vegetable oils, blue for aquaculture), not forgetting horticultural and poultry dynamics, as well as products that give India its flavour (spices, tea, and other plantation crops). Three core issues are debated at the end: the unsolved problem of poverty and under-nutrition; the worrying deterioration of natural resources; and the recent economic liberalisation.

This half-century review, which takes the form of a handbook for a broad readership, enlightens us on both the past and future paths of the world’s biggest democracy.

Keywords: food, agriculture, under-nutrition, economic liberalisation

Indian Health Landscapes under Globalization

Edited by Alain Vaguet
Manohar-CSH, Delhi, 2009, 386 pp., English, Rs. 950
ISBN 978-81-7304-722-0

This volume brings together a varied array of perspectives on contemporary health and health care in India. Since Independence, in spite of reduced budget, India has been able to achieve a notable improvement in the life expectancy of the population. After the recent liberalisation of the economy, whether the government can safeguard the autonomy of public health, promote efficiency and escape the invariable commodification of health services is the question this very timely volume raises.

French and Indian geographers, sociologists, economists, lawyers, make use of a global perspective to introduce the outcome of the process of globalisation in the field of Indian health systems in this volume. This systematic examination of costs and benefits seems a good indicator of the level of integration of a rapidly developing country. The authors have clearly stated their preferences, but the comparative studies will enable the reader to obtain a balanced point of view.

Finally, working within the field of health, viewed as a key component of the state and society, mutations under globalisation processes, allowed the authors to demonstrate its risks, as well as its advantages through vital case studies. Major changes can only take place when the global and the national interact in the same direction, otherwise the indigenisation of global process will get subsumed under social flux.

Keywords: healthcare, policy, globalisation

Health Sector Reforms in India

Edited by Girish Kumar
Manohar-CSH, Delhi, 2009, 269 pp., English, Rs. 675
ISBN 978-81-7304-811-1

Health sector reforms, initially touted as the World Bank’s prescription and hence roundly rejected by concerned scholars, have slowly but gradually started to gain grounds in India. Indeed, some of the reform measures adopted in a few states had preceded 1991 economic reforms.

The objective of this book is to capture the various strands of reforms which had started unfolding since the late 1980s itself. Following the case study method, this volume also looks into the functioning of Rogi Kalyan Samities (RKS) and lady health volunteers, both adopted as critical components of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), a flagship programme of the UPA government which aims at injecting new life into the public health care system by strengthening the health infrastructure and providing a functional link between the community and the hospitals.

Not only does this volume draw on experiences of some of the states but by offering empirical evidences on some of the successful initiatives it enriches our understanding of the impact of reform measures.

Keywords: healthcare, reforms, policy

Governing India’s Metropolises

Edited by Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal
Routledge, New Delhi, 2009, 315 pp., English, Rs. 695
ISBN 978-0-415-55148-9

Urban governance today is characterised by a multiplicity of actors involved in the management of local affairs. The questions for inquiry are: who are the individuals and institutions, public and private, who actually plan and manage urban affairs? In what ways do they do so? Whose interests are accommodated, and under what conditions can co-operative action be taken? And, more generally, in what ways are interactions between the many actors of urban governance patterned?

This volume, based on a series of case studies from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad, discusses the governance of Indian metropolises with these questions in mind. It analyses the changes that have taken place in governance over the last 15 years as a result of liberalisation and decentralisation, focusing on six collective services: primary education, healthcare, subsidised food, slum rehabilitation, water and sanitation, and solid waste management.

The book documents the continued appropriation of the state by an enlarged elite (including the vast middle class) and an incomplete democratisation of urban local bodies (evident in the lack of empowerment of municipal councillors), which goes along with a new economic regime as defined by new modes of engagement between the private sector and the state. Also, the concept of governance as it is operationalised in this volume highlights the importance of class in interactions between actors. By disentangling formal elements of governance (legitimised by the state) from informal ones (involving actors who are beyond the recognition of the state) the book ultimately reveals various power equations at play.

This volume will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, political science, development studies, development economics, urban planning, and public policy studies.

Keywords: urban governance, public policy, urban planning, development economics, cities, urban services, decentralisation

IFP

Passages: Relationships Between Tamil And Sanskrit.

Edited by Kannan M., Jennifer Clare, IFP / Tamil Chair, DSSEAS, University of California (Berkeley), IFP - Publications Hors série n° 11, 2009, xxxvi, 380 p.
Language: English (except 1 article in Tamil). 700 Rs (30 €)
ISBN: 978-81-8470-176-0

This volume is an independent, extended and enlarged outcome of an international conference, "Affinities and Oppositions: Relationship Between Tamil and Sanskrit" held from 12^th to 14^th September, 2007 at the French Institute of Pondicherry.

 The history of South Asia is in a large measure the story of the interaction of the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages and their cultures. These two families have been in close contact at least since the times of the Rig Veda – about 1500 BCE – and have borrowed so much from one another that it is often impossible to determine which one is the source. All the articles presented in this book offer testimony to the plurality, multiculturalism, multilingualism, bilingualism that has animated the two living classical languages of India; parallel streams which have continued to influence and nourish each other throughout the centuries. These testimonies provide some lessons and questions for the present younger generation of students and scholars on both sides.

Keywords: Tamil literature, Sanskrit literature, Indian literature, South Asian studies, comparative literature

Deep Rivers: Selected Writings on Tamil Literature.

François Gros. Translated from French by M. P. Boseman. Edited by Kannan M., Jennifer Clare, IFP / Tamil Chair, DSSEAS, University of California (Berkeley), IFP - Publications Hors série n° 9, 2009, xxxviii, 519 p.
Language: English. 800 Rs ( 35 €)
ISBN: 978-81-8470-172-2

This book brings together for the first time in English all the major essays written by François Gros on Tamil literature. An impressive range of topics is covered here from studies of Cankam literature and devotional texts of the Tamil Bhakti traditions to contemporary Tamil novels and short stories. Many of the essays include an overview of French Indological work over past three centuries made available to the English-speaking scholarly world for the first time here. While the author urges European and American scholars of Tamil history and culture to take the intellectual discourses of Tamil scholarship seriously, he insists at the same time that Tamil is not be ghettoised but should rather be read alongside texts in other South Indian languages, with reference to the evidence of epigraphy, numismatics, archaeology and art history.

Keywords: classical, contemporary Tamil studies, translation, French Indology

Diptagama. Tome III (Chapitres 63 – 111). Appendice et index.

Edition critique Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret, Bruno Dagens et Vincent Lefèvre avec la collaboration de S. Sambandha Sivacarya et la participation de Christèle Barois, Collection indologie n° 81.3, IFP, 2009, viii, 701 p.
Language : Sanskrit, French. 800 Rs (35 €)
ISBN: 978-81-8470-171-5.

The Diptagama is one of the 28 canonical treatises pertaining to the Southern Saivite school known as Saivasiddhanta. It deems itself a “treatise on installations”. The critical edition of this hitherto unpublished text relies on manuscripts kept in the French Institute Library. It comprises three volumes where the Sanskrit text is followed by a chapter-wise summary aimed at making the reading easier.

The first volume (2004) deals with mantras, installation of the main Linga in the temple, and more importantly with architecture and iconography. The second (2007) focuses on rituals, mainly for the installation of statues. The present volume completes the main corpus with a long presentation of the annual temple festival. It includes several chapters which belong sometimes nominally to the treatise, as well as an Appendix where quotations of the Diptagama found in several agamic works are collected. Lastly there is a full Index of the Diptagama’s half-verses.

Keywords: agamas, iconography, Saivism, Sanskrit, temple, ritual

Reading Himalayan Landscapes over Time. Environmental Perception, Knowledge and Practice in Nepal and Ladakh.

Edited by Joëlle Smadja ; translated from French by Bernadette Sellers, Collection Sciences Sociales 14, IFP, 2009, xiv, 671 p., ill. + 1 folded map.
Language: English. 1000 Rs (44 €)
ISBN: 978-81-8470-170-8.

The authors of this book propose a new interpretation of the diversity and transformation of Himalayan landscapes through a study of the relationship between Nepalese and Ladakhi societies and their environment. Natural data on the range, demography, perceptions and representations of environments, their history, present examples of resource management are the subject of often unprecedented investigations.

By associating studies from various disciplines, local knowledge, meticulous fieldwork, as well as archival research, the book prompts us to re-examine the catastrophist theories on the degradation of Himalayan environments. It emerges that any intervention on these environments should take into account their symbolic and religious dimension, as well as the very knowledge populations have of them. Finally, this work contributes to fuelling debates on environmental changes and to reformulating them. This book was first published in French in 2003.

Keywords: Himalayan landscapes, environment, history, local knowledge, resource management

Restoring Mental Health in India. Pluralistic Therapies and Concepts.

Edited by Brigitte Sébastia, Oxford University Press, 2009, viii, 318 p.
Language: English. 795 Rs

Divided into three sections, the essays by experts in the field explore three kinds of remedies used to manage mental disorders ranging from severe illnesses to mental depression. The first section deals with codified Indian therapies, including siddha, ayurveda, and yoga; the second discusses the therapeutic role of religious places and figures; and the third focuses on psychiatry and psychoanalysis in India, both with historical and ethnographic materials.

An important consensus emerges through the diverse points of view expressed by the contributors. It says that any coherent approach to mental health in India must take into account the holistic environment. This includes religion, health policy, and the common understanding of mental illness and wellness.

The contributors are: Pilar Galiana Abal, Renu Addlakha, C. Kumar Babu, Gilles Bibeau & Ellen Corin, Marine Carrin, Nadia Giguère, Florence Halder, Sanjeev Jain & Pratima Murthy, Jean Nimylowycz, Brigitte Sébastia and O. Somasundaram.

Keywords: Siddha, Ayurveda, yoga, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, religious therapy, mental illness

Assessment and Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. 1. General Introduction and Forest Land Cover and Land Use Changes (1977-1997).

B. R. Ramesh, Mohan Seetharam, M. C. Guero, R. Michon, Pondy Papers in Ecology n° 6, IFP, 2009, pp. 1-64.
Available online at: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00408263/fr/

PPE volumes 6 and 7 are part of a project report published in 1999 in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department on the assessment and conservation of forest biodiversity in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. After introducing the project objectives and the study area, this volume deals more specifically with forest land-cover and land-use changes over a 20-year period (1977-1997), assessed from vegetation maps and satellite images. The study revealed that forest areas were converted to anthropogenic cover types at an annual rate of 0.63%. Forest loss was mitigated in areas under state protection (reserve forest), while degraded or fragmented forests lost more area than dense, undisturbed ones. Conservation priorities and recommendations for forest management are discussed in the second volume (PPE 7).

Keywords: Karnataka, India, land-cover, land-use, tropical forests, vegetation maps, Western Ghats.

Assessment and Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. 2. Assessment of Tree Biodiversity, Logging Impact and General Discussion.

B. R. Ramesh, M. H. Swaminath, Santhoshagouda Patil, S. Aravajy, Claire Elouard, 2009, Pondy Papers in Ecology n° 7, pp. 65-121.
Available online at: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00408305/fr/

PPE volumes 6 and 7 are part of a project report published in 1999 in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department on the assessment and conservation of forest biodiversity in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. Project objectives and study area are introduced in the first volume (PPE 6). The present volume reports: i) an assessment of forest biodiversity and its relationships with regional bio-climate and anthropogenic pressure from a network of 96 1-ha sampling plots; and ii) an in-depth study of impact of selective logging on the low elevation wet evergreen forest, which revealed that 30-40 years between successive harvests is the minimum period to allow the forest to recover. Conservation values maps and recommendations for forest management are then discussed from results of the whole project.

Keywords: Biodiversity, Karnataka, India, logging impact, tropical forests, Western Ghats.

IFP/EFEO

Between Preservation and Recreation: Tamil Traditions of Commentary. Proceedings of a Workshop in Honour of T.V. Gopal Iyer.

Edited by Eva Wilden, Collection Indologie n°109,  IFP / EFEO, 2009, xiv, 319 p.
Language: English (except 2 articles in Tamil). 600 Rs (26 €)
ISBN (IFP):  978-81-8470-173-9. ISBN (EFEO): 978-2-85539-674-3

The seed from which this book germinated was a workshop entitled “Between Preservation and Recreation: Tamil Traditions of Commentary in Pursuit of the Caṅkam Era”, held at the Pondicherry Centre of the EFEO in July 2006 in honour of the late and much lamented Pandit T.V. Gopal Iyer.  A presentation of the life and work of T.V. Gopal Iyer, along with his bibliography, is followed by essays.

After a general introduction by Eva Wilden, Thomas Lehmann gives a survey of the types of commentary found in Tamil. Jean-Luc Chevillard addresses the interaction between scholastic Sanskrit and Tamil. G. Vijayavenugopal, Eva Wilden and A. Dhamodharan deal with the genre of grammatical and poetological commentaries. Martine Gestin explores the possibilities of retrieving social and anthropological information from a poetological commentary. T.V. Gopal Iyer (†2007), T.S. Gangadharan and T. Rajeswari write about literary commentaries. R. Varadadesikan introduces the genre of Vaishnava theological exegesis and, finally, Sascha Ebeling characterises the “neo-commentaries” of the 19th century.

Keywords: Tamil literature, exegesis, philology

BOOKS

CSH

Ruet J., Tawa Lama-RewalS. (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009. 

Sethi M., Nuclear Strategy: India's March to Credible Deterrence, New Delhi, Knowledge World, 2009.

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

CSH

Baixas L., ‘Case Study: The Anti-Sikh Pogrom of October 31 to November 4, 1984’, Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, 9 June 2009. URL: http://www.massviolence.org/The-1984-Anti-Sikhs-pogroms-in-New-Dehli.

Benbabaali D., ‘Importing new cultures into the city: the role of Kamma migrants in the development of Andhra culture in Hyderabad’, in Geetha Reddy Anant (ed.), Emerging urban transformations. Multilayered cities and urban systems, Hyderabad, International Geographical Union, Urban Geography Commission, August 2009, pp. 689-700.

Ghosh A., Kennedy L., Ruet J., Tawa Lama-Rewal S., Zérah M.-H., ‘A Comparative Overview of Urban Governance in Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 24-54. 

Kennedy L., ‘New Patterns of Participation Shaping Urban Governance’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 55-80. 

Kennedy L., Duggal R., Tawa Lama-Rewal S., ‘Assessing Urban Governance through the Prism of Healthcare Services in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 161-82.

Lefebvre B., ‘ ‘Bringing World-class Health Care to India’: The Rise of Corporate Hospitals’, in Alain Vaguet (ed.), Indian Health Landscapes under Globalization, New Delhi, Manohar-CSH, 2009, pp. 83-99.

Martin F., ‘From Global Policy to Local Politics: The Eradication of Leprosy in India’, in Alain Vaguet (ed.), Indian Health Landscapes under Globalization, New Delhi, Manohar-CSH, 2009, pp. 263-78. 

Mooij J., Tawa Lama-Rewal S., ‘Class in Metropolitan India: The Rise of the Middle Classes’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 81-104. 

Tawa Lama-Rewal S., ‘Engaging with the Concept of Governance in the Study of Indian Metropolises’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 3-23. 

Tawa Lama-Rewal S., ‘Local Democracy and Access to Health Services in Delhi: Preliminary Remarks’, in Alain Vaguet (ed.), Indian Health Landscapes under Globalization, New Delhi, Manohar-CSH, 2009, pp. 351-70.

Zérah M.-H., ‘Reforming Solid Waste Management in Mumbai and Hyderabad: Policy Convergence, Distinctive Processes’, in Joël Ruet, Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.), Governing India’s Metropolises, New Delhi, Routledge, 2009, pp. 241-69.

IFP

Indology

Subbarayalu, Y., ‘Visaki and Kuviran’, in K. Indrapala (ed.), Early Historic Tamil Nadu, c 300 BCE – 300 CE, Colombo – Chenai, Kumaran Book House,  2009, pp. 95-122.

Social Sciences

Dufrenot G., Marimoutou V., Peguin-Feissolle A., ‘Finite sample properties of tests for STGARCH models and application to the US stock returns’, in C. KYRTSOU (ed.), Progress in Financial Markets Research, New York, Nova Science Publishers, 2009.

Guérin I., Roesch M., Servet J.-M., ‘Microfinance, financial inclusion and social responsibility‘, in H.-C. de Bettignies, F. Lépineux (ed.), Finance for a better world. The shift toward sustainability, Macmillan, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp. 7-29.

Marius-Gnanou K., ‘Madras’,  in C. Clémentin-Ojha, C. Jaffrelot, D. Matringe & J. Pouchepadass (dir.), Dictionnaire de l’Inde, Paris, Larousse, 2009.

EFEO

Goodall D.,‘Retracer la transmission des textes littéraires à l’aide des textes “théoriques” de l’Alaṅkāraśāstra ancien : quelques exemples tirés du Raghuvaṃśa ’, in Gérard Colas and Gerdi Gerschheimer (eds.), Écrire et transmettre en Inde classique, Études thématiques 23, Paris, École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2009, p.63–77.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘Tolkāppiyam - A Treatise on the Semiotics of Ancient Tamil Poetry’in Eva Wilden (ed.), Between Preservation and Recreation: Tamil Traditions of Commentary, Collection Indologie - 109, Pondicherry, Institut Français de Pondichéry and Ecole Française d’Extreme - Orient, 2009, pp 133-43.

ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS

CSH

Himanshu, ‘Electoral Politics and the Manipulation of Statistics’, Economic and Political Weekly, XLIV (19), May 9, 2009, pp. 31-35. 

Jaffrelot C., Verniers G., ‘L’Inde aux urnes. La prégnance du regional et du vote ethnique’, Commentaire, 32(127), Autumn 2009, pp. 747-58.

Krichewsky D., ‘Supercapitalism and the Indian Corporate Economy’, Indian Journal of Human Development, 2(2), 2008 (appeared 2009), pp. 483-90.

Sethi M., ‘Conventional War in the Presence of Nuclear Weapons’, Strategic Analysis, 33(3), 2009, pp. 415-25.

IFP

Ecology

Beeravolu C.R., Couteron P., Pélissier R. & Munoz F., ‘Studying ecological communities from a neutral standpoint: a review of models’ structure and parameter estimation’, Ecological Modelling, 2009, DOI:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.06.041
(Online First @ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043800)

Marie-Vivien D., Garcia C.A., Moppert B., Kushalappa C.G., Vaast P., 'Marques, indications géographiques et certifications : comment valoriser la biodiversité dans les Ghâts occidentaux (Inde) ?', Paris, Autrepart, 50, 2009, pp. 93-116.

Minobe S., Fukui S., Saiki R., Kajita T., Changtragoon S., Aini N., Shukor A. B., Latiff A., Ramesh B.R., Koizumi O., Yamazaki T., 'Highly differentiated population structure of a Mangrove species, Bruguiera gymnorhiza (Rhizophoraceae) revealed by one nuclear GapCp and one chloroplast intergenic spacer trnF–trnL', Conservation Genetics, 2009, DOI 10.1007/s10592-009-9806-3
(Online First @. http://www.springerlink.com/content/xj2545112l445738/)

Stropp J., Ter Steege H., Malhi Y., ATDN, RAINFOR, 'Disentangling regional and local tree diversity in the Amazon', Ecography, 32, 2009, pp. 46-54.

Social Sciences

Denis E., ‘Les sources récentes de l'observation foncière urbaine dans les pays en développement. Vers l’harmonisation et la transparence ? ‘, Etudes Foncières, 139, 2009.

Guérin I., Lapenu C., Doligez F. (éd.), ‘La microfinance est-elle socialement responsable?’, Revue Tiers Monde, Special Issue, 197, January-March 2009.

Guérin I., Roesch M., Venkatasubramanian G., Héliès O., ‘Microfinance, endettement et surendettement‘, Revue Tiers Monde, 197, January-March 2009, pp. 131-46.

Marimoutou V., Peguin D., Peguin-Feissolle A., ‘The “distance-varying” gravity model in international economics: is the distance an obstacle to trade?’, Economics Bulletin, 29(2), 2009, pp. 1157-73.

EFEO

Varada Desikan R., ‘TiyaakicaTaayu’, Desikadarsan 1.5, 2009, pp. 13-19.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘New Pallava Inscriptions’, Avanam 20, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, July 2009, pp.1-2.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘New Inscriptions from Kanchipuram District’, Avanam 20, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, July 2009, pp.16-17.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘New Inscriptions from Villupuram District’, Avanam 20, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, July 2009, pp.22-24.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘New Inscriptions from Karnataka State’, Avanam 20, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, July 2009, pp.26.

Vijayavenugopal G., ‘Tirutturaiyūr Inscriptions’, Avanam 20, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, July 2009, pp.78-85.

REFEREED PAPERS

CSH

Krichewsky D., ‘La régulation sociale et environnementale des entreprises en Inde’, Etude du CERI, n°155, Paris, 2009.

Mazumdar M., Rajeev M., ‘Output and Input Efficiency of Manufacturing Firms in India: A Case of the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector’, ISEC Working Paper, n° 219, Bangalore, June 2009.

Mazumdar M., Rajeev M., Ray S. C., ‘A Comparative Analysis of Efficiency and Productivity of the Indian Pharmaceutical Firms: A Malmquist-Meta-Frontier Approach’, ISEC Working Paper , n° 223, Bangalore, August 2009.

INSTITUTES

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