The Society for Ethnobotany has honoured my first book, The Tropical Turn, with the Mary W. Klinger Book Award—so grateful for yet another book prize! ethnobotany.org/home/awards/...
My co-authored book in Nature's top 5 science picks! Quite appropriate, since the nature spirits of the Indian subcontinent—and their integration and reformulation by local religious traditions—are central to the book.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A hot pink wall featuring my co-authored book, Ancient India: Living Traditions, at the British Museum's special exhibition store: www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/ancient-indi...
“Ancient India : Living Traditions” opens tomorrow at the British Museum! Here’s the fab review in this morning’s Times. Congrats Sushma Jansari and @vicitracitta.bsky.social !!! Ancient India: Living Traditions review — gods and rituals come to life
www.thetimes.com/article/88d8...
The exhibition opens next week. So excited! Our exhibition book is already on sale at the British Museum's stores ahead of its official publication date (22 May). www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/ancient-indi...
London Charterhouse
The official publication date is 22 May (when it becomes widely available through online retailers) but the book is already on sale at the British Museum's bookstores and available on the British Museum shop’s website: www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/ancient-indi...
The last chapter ("Afterlives") considers the modern phase of these ancient traditions and uses the United Kingdom and Singapore as case studies in religious pluralism.
The book also considers how religious ideas and images originating in the Indian subcontinent were localised and woven into the cultural fabric of Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.
The first chapter explores the emergence of Indian religious traditions against the backdrop of local environments, emphasising the importance of nature in essential human experiences. The next three chapters are focused on Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Chapter preview of "Ancient India: Living Traditions," a book I co-authored with Sushma Jansari, the Tabor Foundation Curator of South Asia at the British Museum. The book accompanies a major exhibition of the same title at the British Museum (22 May - 19 Oct 2025).
The Musée Guimet’s ongoing exhibition on Cambodian bronzes includes this stunning digital restoration of the 11th-century West Mebon Viṣṇu. Source: www.lemonde.fr/culture/arti...
Reliefs from the Terrace of the Leper King, Angkor, early to mid-13th century
Much more on this in the book I co-authored with Sushma Jansari (British Museum) for this exhibition: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/04/30/i...
Ta Som, Angkor, 1180s-90s
Hoof-shaped Attic red-figure cup with a herding scene, c. 470-460 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Paintings from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale, Italy, c. 50-40 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Temple door socket from Marad with an Akkadian inscription of Narām-Sîn (late 23rd century BCE) documenting his battles and his son Lipit-ilī's construction of a temple for the tutelary deity of Marad, New York Public Library
Thank you! That’s right, it is mostly focused on the period between 200 BCE - 600 CE.
Look what arrived! "Ancient India: Living Traditions," a book I co-authored with Sushma Jansari is now available for purchase at the British Museum's shops (wider release on 22/5). The book accompanies a major exhibition of the same title at the British Museum (22/5-12/10).
Lapis lazuli seal showing a worshipper before two altars with divine symbols, c. 626-539 BCE, Babylonia, Morgan Library, New York
