Sahaj Parikh
Sahaj Parikh is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he also serves as an instructor of Hindi. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s in History from the University of Delhi and a master’s in Religious Studies from UC Santa Barbara. With a focus on the history of religions, Sahaj’s research delves into the cultural dimensions of historical narratives, specifically 19th-century Gujarati bhakti traditions. Under the advisory of Professor Barbara Holdrege, he is engaged in a detailed textual and historical study of prose and poetry from this period, examining how bhakti, its underlying philosophy, and vernacular poetry contributed to the formation of devotional communities. Working alongside Professors Holdrege, Vesna Wallace, Anil Mundra, and William Elison, Sahaj’s scholarship also investigates the role of religion within society, addressing questions that highlight the lived experiences of bhakti practitioners and the socio-cultural influences of devotional literature.
Supervisors: Barbara Holdrege, Vesna Wallace, William Elison, and Anil Mundra
Supervisors: Barbara Holdrege, Vesna Wallace, William Elison, and Anil Mundra
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Papers by Sahaj Parikh
looking for the consciousness of ‘nation’ amongst the subjects of these letters as devised by modern social-scientists like Benedict Anderson and Partha Chatterjee. I historically contextualize the letters to find out any links between the subjects of the letters and the nascent Nationalist movement developing in India. Secondly, I find one particular genre recurring in the subjects of these letters: the new and unique theological understanding of the religious organization BAPS, which was the primary
reason for the schism in the Swaminarayan Sampradaya in 1907. Thus, to historicize this historical event, I take theoretical recourse to Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha. I question whether the ideological convincing by Shastriji Maharaj to the devotees of East Africa through letters can be called a form of Satyagraha. To show why I intend to use this theoretical model, I will be substantiating it with a theoretical discussion and documented evidence in the paper.
looking for the consciousness of ‘nation’ amongst the subjects of these letters as devised by modern social-scientists like Benedict Anderson and Partha Chatterjee. I historically contextualize the letters to find out any links between the subjects of the letters and the nascent Nationalist movement developing in India. Secondly, I find one particular genre recurring in the subjects of these letters: the new and unique theological understanding of the religious organization BAPS, which was the primary
reason for the schism in the Swaminarayan Sampradaya in 1907. Thus, to historicize this historical event, I take theoretical recourse to Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha. I question whether the ideological convincing by Shastriji Maharaj to the devotees of East Africa through letters can be called a form of Satyagraha. To show why I intend to use this theoretical model, I will be substantiating it with a theoretical discussion and documented evidence in the paper.