Thursday, March 23 @ 4 PM (MST) in Paleontology Hall

Ellora, Western India, is a World Heritage Site with 34 magnificent Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples excavated and sculpted into the scarp of a basalt mountain. These caves, made between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, have long attracted pilgrims, travelers, and scholars, some of whom have left records of encounters across the centuries. Learning of a story transmitted among hereditary artisans in Western India (particularly Rajasthan and Gujarat) that their ancestors were responsible for the skilled shaping of these caves, Dr. Narayan became curious about this claim and its imaginative consequences. The focus of artisans’ worship at Ellora has historically been Cave 10, a seventh-century Buddhist shrine featuring a towering seated Buddha viewed by hereditary artisans as the deity Vishwakarma, “Maker of the Universe.” Following clues to understand this relationship propelled research beyond ethnography towards engagement with diverse disciplinary arenas, fieldsites, and collaborations. The emerging “questography” brings alternative, artisan-centered perspectives to this celebrated ancient site, even as their focus on the mysteries and dangers of making hold insights for the crafting of unusual texts. 

Sponsored by the CU Department of Anthropology, the CU Center for the Humanities and Arts and CU Center for Asian studies.