The Living Ramayana
August 15–23, 2026 | Sanders Theatre, Harvard University
Please join us for a unique event — an academic conference on the Ramayana with some of the world’s leading scholars along with a traditional recitation of the text. Titled The Living Ramayana, the conference will bring together leading scholars from the United States, Europe, India, and Japan to discuss their research into the history, aesthetics, and cultural valence of the stories, along with the recreation of those stories in multiple Asian languages and traditions, from Persian to Thai and Javanese.
The recitation will be led by Morari Bapu, one of the most important and celebrated reciters of the Ramayana today in South Asia. While he is firmly rooted in the Ramayana tradition, Bapu’s recitations include songs, stories, and anecdotes from modern popular culture, including films and music, as well as classical and folk poetry from Sanskrit, Saurashtri, Hindi and Urdu. His readings organically include stories of Sufi and Christian saints, philosophers like Plato, and artistic geniuses like Charlie Chaplin and Dilip Kumar. Bapu welcomes people of all orientations and beliefs, regularly featuring religious and cultural leaders from multiple communities in his programs.
Limited availability. Attendance is by advance registration and confirmation.
For further information, please contact mittalsai@fas.harvard.edu.
Schedule of Events
Saturday, August 15
Opening Ceremony
4:00 pm sharp
Please be in the hall by 3:30 pm for seating.
Sunday, August 16 – Saturday, August 22
Morning Program
Katha (oral recitation): 10:00 am – 1:30 pm
Please be in the hall by 9:30 am for seating.
Lunch
Provided for all attendees.
Evening Program
Evening Discussions: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm (program varies by date: includes academic conference August 16–18; special programs and invited speakers August 19–22)
Please be in the hall by 5:00 pm for seating.
Dinner
Provided for all attendees.
Sunday, August 23
Closing Ceremony
10:00 am sharp (subject to change)
Please be in the hall by 9:30 am for seating.
Academic Conference Program (August 16 – 18)
Sunday, August 16, 5:30 – 7:30 pm : Performance and Performativity in the Ramayana
- Welcome: Hitesh Hathi, Executive Director, The Mittal Institute
- Opening Remarks: Swayam Bagaria, Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University
- Presentation: Diana Eck, Faculty Director, The Mittal Institute and Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Emerita Frederic Wertham Research Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society, Harvard University
- Speakers:
- Sally Sutherland Goldman, Senior Lecturer Emerita, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- Madoka Fukuoka, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Japan.
- Neelima Shukla Bhatt, Professor of Religious Studies, Wellesley College
Monday, August 17, 5:30 – 7:30 pm: Poetics and Aesthetics of the Ramayana
- Speakers:
- Paula Richman, Emerita William H. Danforth Professor, Department of Religion, Oberlin College
- Rupert Snell, Professor Emeritus, Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin
- Philip Lutgendorf, Professor Emeritus, Hindi and Modern Indian Studies, University of Iowa
- Moderator: Charlie Hallisey, Yehan Numata Senior Lecturer on Buddhist Literatures, Divinity School, Harvard University
Tuesday, August 18, 5:30 – 7:30 pm: Translations and Transmissions of the Ramayana
- Speakers:
- Robert Goldman, Professor of the Graduate School, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, and the Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Sanskrit, University of California, Berkley
- Ayelet Kotler, Postdoctoral researcher, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University
- Archana Venkatesan, Professor of Religious Studies. Affiliated Faculty of Comparative Literature, UC Davis
- Moderator: Hitesh Hathi, Executive Director, The Mittal Institute
Evening Programs (August 19 – 22)
Following the academic conference, the evening program continues as part of the overall festival schedule (5:30 pm – 7:30 pm, with seating at 5:00 pm).