Public Lecture: The Spread of Vaishnavism: Religion, Trade and State in Early Historic Southeast Asia

If you’re in Singapore, check out this talk by Prof. Pierre-Yves Manguin at the Asian Civilisations Museum on Thursday. Registrations closes tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Spread of Vaishnavism: Religion, Trade and State in Early Historic Southeast Asia
Date: 09 July 2009
Time: 7:00 – 8:45 pm
Venue: Ngee Ann Auditorium, Asian Civilisations Museum Empress Place

Much research work has been devoted to early Buddhist expansion into Southeast Asia, and to the role of Saivism after the 7th century CE. Historians, however, have not paid much attention to Vaishnavite developments between the 4th and the 7th century, when the first Indianised states of the region were being formed. The central role of devotional forms of Vaishnavism can now be reassessed by bringing together new evidence from archaeology and epigraphy and considering this in the light of some earlier research by art historians.

About the speaker
Pierre-Yves Manguin is a professor at the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO, French School of Asian Studies) and also teaches at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris). His research focuses on history and archaeology of the coastal states and trade networks of Southeast Asia. He has led archaeological field work in Indonesia and Vietnam and published on themes related to maritime history and archaeology of Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, and on the archaeology of Funan (Vietnam), of Srivijaya (South Sumatra), and of Tarumanagara (West Java).

This lecture is jointly organised by the Research and Publications Unit of ACM and Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).

Due to limited seating, registration is required. Please R.S.V.P to nhb_acm_rpu@nhb.gov.sg by 7th July, Tuesday. Successful registrants will be notified by email.