Special Event
This year’s annual SACHI meeting and event will explore the megacity Kumbh Mela and features specialists Diana Eck, professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, and Rahul Mehrotra, professor of Urban Design and Planning at Harvard Graduate School of Design, followed by a short discussion. Facilitated by Robert Goldman, Professor of Sanskrit, UC Berkeley.
The Kumbh Mela is a Hindu religious fair that occurs every 12 years in India, and has become the largest public gathering in the world. The most recent observance of the festival took place in 2013 in Allahabad, with an estimated attendance of over 80 million people. Because of its size and complexity, the 2013 Kumbh Mela inspired the Harvard South Asia Institute’s flagship multi-year interdisciplinary research project in a number of complementary fields: business, technology and communications, urban studies and design, religious and cultural studies, and public health. Launched in 2015, the “Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity” book and exhibition consolidate research findings and serve as an example of interdisciplinary research conducted at Harvard.
Free with general museum admission.
Join the reception on the Loggia after the program.
This program is co-presented by the Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India. It is part of the The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe Programs organized by the Asian Art Museum.
