22 May Devotee or God: Hanumān in Hindu Art and Literature
Bruce M. Sullivan (Asian Studies and Comparative Study of Religions, Northern Arizona University)
May 22, 2016/2:30 PM
Mary Craig Auditorium, Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Hanumān is an extraordinary, even unique, figure in Hindu religious, literary, and artistic traditions. Famously, he has the appearance, and sometimes the character, of a monkey—but one who speaks perfect Sanskrit, has enormous strength, dresses well, and can fly. This lecture will illustrate through a variety of images how Hanumān exhibits the features of both an exemplary devotee and a deity in his own right.
Bruce M. Sullivan is Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Study of Religions at Northern Arizona University. He is a specialist in Hindu and Buddhist traditions whose research interests focus on India’s classical Sanskrit literary and theatrical traditions. His publications include Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces: Exhibiting Asian Religions in Museums, The Wedding of Arjuna and Subhadrā: The Kūtiyāttam Drama “Subhadrā-Dhanañjaya,” and Krsna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and the Mahābhārata: A New Interpretation.