The Hindu-Buddhist deity Vishwakarma (“All-Maker” or “Maker of the Universe”) is a “niche” god prominent among communities of artisans and industrial workers throughout India. Artisan communities worship him as their divine ancestor, while mechanics, technicians, and factory workers honor him as the patron deity of manufacture, construction, and the industrial workplace. Though recognized since Vedic times, Vishwakarma has not always been “visible” in iconic, anthropomorphic form. Historical and regional variation in representations of the god prompts us to ask, “Who and what does Vishwakarma worship make visible? When? How?” Selecting a few key moments in the braided and knotted histories of Vishwakarma iconography over the past 1500 years, we put emphasis on the way the god’s icons have gathered both devotees and stories of his manifestation—from the 8th century chaitya at Ellora to today’s temples, domestic workshops, and annual rites on the factory floor.
This seminar is in-person only. Online participation is not possible.
About the speakers
Kenneth M. George (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. Ken’s research in Asia began with a decade of work on the cultural politics of ritual violence in highland Sulawesi, Indonesia. He subsequently conducted a long-term collaborative project on contemporary Islamic art and art publics across Southeast Asia. His current research with Kirin Narayan on the intermingling of religion and technology in India has been supported by the American Institute of Indian Studies, the USIEF Fulbright Program, and an Australian Research Council Discovery Project Award.
Kirin Narayan is Emerita Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the Australian National University. Her books include a narrative ethnography, Storytellers, Saints and Scoundrels: Folk Narrative in Hindu Religious Teaching (1989); a novel, Love, Stars and All That (1997); a dialogic collaboration with a storyteller, Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon: Himalayan Foothill Folktales; a family memoir, My Family and Other Saints (2007); a book on generating writing, Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov (2012); and an ethnography emerging from long-term fieldwork, Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills (2016). Her current research with Ken George explores the intersections of religion, artisanship, narrative, creativity, and technology in India.