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| Haṭhapradīpikā, MS 4383 Alm 20 Shlf 4, f. 1. © Dharmartha Trust JK. Digitised by eGangotri. |
Project Funding
Light on Hatha Yoga:
A critical edition and translation of the Haṭhapradīpikā, the most important premodern text on physical yoga.
This three-year research project aims to bring together arts and humanities researchers in the UK and Germany to conduct outstanding joint research. The project will produce a critical edition and English translation of the Haṭhapradīpikā, authored by Svātmārāma in the early 15th century, which is arguably one of the most widely cited and influential texts on physical yoga, and is instrumental for the flourishing of haṭhayoga on the eve of colonialism.
Building on the success of the five-year ERC-funded Hatha Yoga Project at SOAS University of London, scholars Dr James Mallinson and Dr Jason Birch will be collaborating with Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hanneder and Dr Mitsuyo Demoto-Hahn of Philipps-Universität Marburg to produce this critical edition and English translation based on over 200 manuscripts, written in a variety of Indic scripts. The oldest manuscript sourced for the project is dated 1496 CE, which is remarkably close to the date of authorship by Svātmārāma himself.
Beyond the principal investigators and senior researchers, this project includes funding for a PhD student based at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Nils Jacob Liersch, and two research assistants at the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in Pondicherry, India.
The project is due to launch in mid-January 2021.
