The Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality and the Visual Arts Department invites you to a symposium on 'Revisiting the Nāyikā: Transformations Across Body, Form and Time'. The symposium will be held on November 26, 2025 from 1.30 PM to 3 PM at AC-03, LR-003.

The term nāyikā comes from the Sanskrit root nÄ« (“to lead”), denoting the leading lady or heroine. Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra, codifies her according to types and emotional states, laying the foundation for later tropological traditions that shaped poetics, visual art, and performance across centuries. This collaborative symposium hopes to revisit trope of the nāyikā/heroine across Indian aesthetics while also playing on the many meanings and transgressive potentials of the word. 

We also ask how gestures, tropes, and aesthetic practices around the nāyikā have been embedded and adapted as cultural signifiers of gender, sexuality and desire. What transformations occur when these forms travel across visual art, cinema, performance, and literary studies?

PANELISTS:

Prof. Urmimala Sarkar is former Dean of School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she was Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies. A renowned dancer and choreographer, she is also a social anthropologist specializing in dance studies. Prof. Sarkar will present her paper titled "Becoming a Body".

Dr. Brahma Prakash is Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. A cultural theorist, essayist, his work focuses on the intertices of art, culture and politics. His presentation will be titled "Nayikas of the Commons: Body Erotic and the heroine outside of the Nayika-Bhed".

Prof. Parul Dave Mukherji is currently Dean, School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she is Professor of Visual Studies. Her expertise spans classical Sanskrit Aesthetics, Global and Contemporary Art Histories, and Comparative Aesthetic Theory. Prof. Mukherji will present a paper titled "Why have there been no great Rasika in Indian aesthetics?"

Dr. Niharika Dinkar, Associate Professor of Art History at the Department of Art, Design and Visual Studies at Boise State University, Idaho, USA, will be the discussant for this panel. Her work explores the intersections between art, technology and the environment in nineteenth century South Asia. 

We will serve refreshments for the audience at the event. Please note that this is an in-person session only. We look forward to your participation!