Benjamin J. Fleming - Education, Awards, etc.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., McMaster University, Department of Religious Studies, 2007; Major: Indian Religions, Minor: East Asian Buddhism

Dissertation: “The Cult of the Jyotirliṅgas and the History of Śaivite Worship” [abstract]
Advisor: Phyllis Granoff (Yale University)
Readers: Koichi Shinohara (Yale University), James Benn (McMaster University); Outside examiner: André Couture (Université Laval)
Comprehensive Examinations:
Major exams, 2001, supervised by Phyllis Granoff.
Topics covered: Epic and Purāṇic literature; the role of images in Indian religions; Hindu temple art; Āgamic literature; stūpa monuments in India
Minor exams, 2002, supervised by Koichi Shinohara and Phyllis Granoff.
Topics covered: Esoteric Buddhism in China and Japan; the Lotus Sutra in China and Japan; Buddhist art

Master of Arts, University of Regina, Department of Religion, 2000

Thesis: “Animal-Human Hybrids in India and the Ancient Near East”
Co-advisors: Leona Anderson and Volker Greifenhagen; Third reader: Brian Hillis
Bachelor of Arts, Honours, University of Regina, 1998
Concentration in Hinduism; Art and Religion.
High Honours in Religious Studies.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Regina, 1990.
Studio art programme with a focus in drawing and sculpture.

Non-Degree Programmes

  • Intensive course in modern Hindi, University of Saskatchewan, 1999.
  • French immersion program, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 1991.
  • Visual arts summer studio program, Banff Centre for Fine and Performing Arts, 1988.
LANGUAGES
Ancient: Sanskrit, Pali; some reading knowledge of Syriac and Hebrew.
Modern: French, German; some reading knowledge of Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi.


FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
  • Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 2007-2009 ($100,000)
  • Social Science and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship, 2000-2004 ($80,000)
  • Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Doctoral Research Fellowship, 2002-2003 ($6,000)
  • Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, M.A. Research Fellowship to pursue M.A. in Art History at the University of Hyderbad, 2000-2001 ($6,000) [Declined]
  • Hindu Samaj Award, Hindu Temple, Regina (administered by the University of Regina), 2000
  • Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Language Training Scholarship, 1999 ($3,000)
  • Winner (first prize), Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Student Essay Contest. Essay title: "Domestic Dimensions of the Ganesh Caturthi Festival," 1998
  • Winner (second prize), Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Student Essay Contest. Essay title: "Hajj Murals and their Context: A Reading and Critique of Juan E. Campo," 1997
  • Shastri Indo‑Canadian Institute, Undergraduate Award, 1997 ($2,000)
  • Dean’s Honours List, Faculty of Arts, University of Regina, 1997
    • DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

    The medieval Hindu god Śiva rivaled Viṣṇu in popularity. Yet the origins of Śaivism remain mysterious. How can we explain Śiva’s seemingly sudden appearance as a major figure on the Indian religious scene? To address this question, this dissertation focuses on the tenth to thirteenth centuries CE, exploring our earliest literature for the cult of the jyotirliṅgas (“liṅgas of light”). This cult is, arguably, one of the first attempts to establish Śaivism on a pan-Indian scale. It may also reflect an impulse, evident already in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, to map sacred geographies onto the Indian landscape.

    Chapter one considers the origins of the twelve jyotirliṅgas. Drawing on evidence of other groupings of liṅgas, most notably in the newly-published “early Skanda Purāṇa,” I propose that the twelve jyotirliṅgas are modeled on pilgrimage circuits in Vārāṇasī. In chapters two and three, I examine the cycle of stories extolling the jyotirliṅga sites in the Śiva Purāṇa, analyzing two parallel versions: the earlier version (Jñāna-saṃhitā) refers to diverse rituals, whereas the later version (Koṭirudra-saṃhitā) emphasizes liṅga worship. To explain ritual diversity in the earlier version, chapter four investigates the history of Śaivite altar worship with attention to the term pārthiva and vedic ritual. In chapter five, I ask why authors of the jyotirliṅga cult chose to interconnect twelve sites and associate them with “light” (jyotis). Their identification as jyotirliṅgas resonates with fire/light imagery from vedic traditions of twelve suns and medieval traditions related to the term jyotis.

    My dissertation sheds new light on the cult through an analysis of its earliest literature. It contributes to our understanding of Śaivite worship, particularly with regard to the establishment of the liṅga as the primary object of worship. This development, I argue, is part of a medieval process of consolidation that shaped classical Śaivism.




    Homepage of Benjamin J. Fleming | Education | Research | Teaching | About