Indic Academy Chennai Event: Koenraad Elst Will Speak On ‘Hinduism - Source Of Indian Pluralism’

Indic Academy will be hosting a talk by Koenraad Elst on ‘Hinduism - Source of Indian Pluralism’. The event will be held on 5 December 2016 in Sri Siddanta Hall, Chennai.

About the Speaker

Dr Koenraad Elst is a Belgian-born Indologist. He is known for his vast studies on the Hindu religion, Hindu-Muslim relations and Indian history. He distinguished himself early on as someone eager to learn and dissent. After a few hippie years, he studied at the KU Leuven, obtaining Master’s of Arts degrees in Sinology, Indology and Philosophy.

After a research stay at Benares Hindu University, he did original fieldwork for a doctorate on Hindu nationalism, which he obtained magna cum laude in 1998. As an independent researcher, he earned laurels and ostracism with his findings on hot topics like Islam, multiculturalism and the secular state, the Indo-European roots, the Ayodhya temple/mosque dispute and Mahatma Gandhi's legacy.

He also published on the interface of religion and politics, correlative cosmologies, the dark side of Buddhism, the reinvention of Hinduism, technical points of Indian and Chinese philosophies, various language policy issues, Maoism, the renewed relevance of Confucius in conservatism, the increasing Asian stamp on integrating world civilisation, direct democracy, the defence of threatened freedoms and the Belgian question. In the area of religion, he combined human sympathy with substantive scepticism.

About Indic Academy

Indic Academy’s mission is to preserve, protect and promote Indic civilisational identity, thought and values. To achieve its mission, it seeks to transform thinkers, nurture networks and promote platforms.

Indic Academy has a target of transforming 2,020 public intellectuals into authors and scholars by the year 2020. The academy is currently nurturing Indic Book Club, a horizontal multi-city network and two vertical networks, Indic Economic Network and Indic Law Network. The academy will be shortly launching other vertical networks in the areas of activism, arts and scholarship. It is actively promoting multiple platforms for academics, activists, artists and authors to express themselves.

Twitter: @indicacademy

Join us to hear Koenraad Elst speak on ‘Hinduism – Source of Indian Pluralism’ on 5 December 2015 at the Sri Siddanta Hall, Chennai.

Details

Topic: Hinduism - Source of Pluralism

Speaker: Dr Koenraad Elst

Date and Time: 5 December 2016, 6.30pm

Venue

Sri Siddanta Hall, Paramara Hall

44 Kasturi Ranga Road

Alwarpet, Chennai