Sanskrit In Medieval India: Retrieving Lost Traditions

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Sanskrit underwent drastic changes in status and function in India during the medieval period, which was characterised by the growth and development of vernacular languages and far-reaching political upheavals in the sub-continent. Its exclusive stature as the medium of India's imagination and intellectual pursuits came to be challenged with the advent of different languages and discourses in other parts of the country. The ages between the 12th and 17th centuries witnessed the reworking of tradition in the classical framework and in regional cultures with exciting inputs and additions that succeeded in making India's past an organic force, having contemporary relevance and engagement.

This volume is the results of a Three-day International Conference on "Sanskrit in Medieval India: Retrieving Lost Traditions" organised jointly by Research Forum Sahitya (RFS) with the Department of Sanskrit Sahitya.(The RFS is a platform for research scholars of Sanskrit Sahitya, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kalady, for their academic discourses.)

This volume is expected to draw attention of scholars and researchers to the knowledge systems in the Sanskrit language and its engagements with different cultures of medieval India.

Any university, being an institution of higher learning and research, is supposed to play a decisive role in the production and dissemination of knowledge. Thus, beyond teaching and learning, research and publication are given more prominence in the academic affairs of the faculty and departments in universities.

The Department of Sanskrit Sahitya in the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), Kalady, has been paying due consideration to realise this responsibility. As a part of this it has been taking keen interest in organising seminars, conferences, symposia and workshops at national and international levels, right from its inception. Hence, the Department always gives high priority to record the outcome of every academic event by bringing out its result in functional form. As a part of it the Department persistently makes remarkable effort to publish the research articles presented in the seminars and conferences. Thus, around 20 compiled volumes of research articles have been published within the last two and a half decades.

The Department of Sanskrit Sahitya has a good number of research students registered for Ph.D programme. The research scholars themselves take praisable initiative in writing and publishing their own research articles in research journals and books. They have also formed a platform called 'Research Forum- Sahitya' (RFS) for academic interactions and for conducting different sorts of academic programmes. The RFS has organised numerous seminars and lecture series in the years past. It has also succeeded in publishing the selected research articles presented in the events in the form of book.

This volume also is the result of an international conference conducted in the initiative the RFS. The RFS jointly with the Department of Sanskrit Sahitya organised a 'Three Day International Conference' on 'Sanskrit in Medieval India- Retrieving Lost Traditions', from 10th to 12th December 2019. This volume contains the selected articles presented in this Conference. Although the articles were collected at the time of the Conference, publication of the compiled volume could not be brought out subsequently owing to the circumstances arouse due to the outbreak of the pandemic COVID19.