Love in the Time of Conflict: the Bonds of Bhakti in South Asia

Dr. Ankur Barua, Faculty of Divinity, University of Delhi, will deliver this year's Annual Faith Lecture - 'Love in the Time of Conflict: the Bonds of Bhakti in South Asia'.

Central to many forms of Hinduism are ideas, imaginations, and institutions associated with bhakti. One core dimension of bhakti is wholehearted love directed towards the divine reality – this has sometimes operated as a synthetic tissue across the borderlines of Hinduism and Indian Islam as well as Hinduism and Indian Christianity. In this talk, Dr Ankur Barua will explore the symbolic power of bhakti to facilitate certain types of interfaith engagement.