Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions

The Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (CHiTra) at UF presents a talk by Professor Gil Ben-Herut, Department of Religious Studies, University of South Florida.  The title of Professor Ben-Herut’s talk is:“Things Standing Shall Move: A Look at the Virashaiva Tradition of South India.” Thursday, April 3^rd, 2.00-3.30 pm, 117 Anderson Hall, University of Florida.

Abstract:  Virashaivism is a devotional (bhakti) tradition from South India distinguished by overt resistance to Brahmanical social and religious practices, as evinced in its elaborate body of vernacular literature, unorthodox rituals, and rejection of casteism, starting from the twelfth century to present days. In his presentation, Professor Ben-Herut will question prevailing scholarly notions regarding the tradition’s rejection of temple worship by examining the earliest life stories about the Virashaiva saints.

Bio Dr. Gil Ben-Herut is an Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department, University of South Florida. Dr. Ben-Herut received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University. His academic interests include pre-modern religious poetry in the Kannada language, South-Asian devotional traditions, Sanskrit poetics and courtly poetry, and early Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu narrative traditions. He is currently working on his first monograph, Narratives of Devotion: Early Kannada Śivabhakti according to Harihara’s Śivaśaraṇara Ragaḷegaḷu.