Events – FSIC | Foundation for Study of Indian Culture, Bengaluru

Two-Day Academic Meeting at FSIC

The FSIC hosted a two-day academic meeting on October 13 and 14, 2025. The event brought together faculty and research scholars to collaborate and discuss important academic topics relevant to the Social and Cultural Sciences.

The meeting featured the participation of distinguished academics, including Prof. Rajarama Hegde (Retired), Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga; Prof. J. Sadanand (Retired), Department of Political Science, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga; Prof. Shanmukha A., Department of Political Science, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga; and Dr. Praveena T.L., Department of Political Science, Davanagere University, Davanagere. Alongside these guests, faculty and research scholars from FSIC actively contributed to the discussions and activities throughout the two-day meeting. The meeting focused on developing course outlines for the IKS Minor on first day and held a critical discussion on the concept of caste and its colonial foundations on the second day.

Dharma and Ethics Conference

The Seventh Dharma & Ethics Conference by Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Ghent University, Belgium was organized in collaboration with Aarohi Research Foundation, Bengaluru at Centre for Educational & Social Studies (CESS), Bengaluru on 1st and 2nd December 2012. The conference focused on questions such as What socio-economic phenomenon do modernisation theories address? What cultural or historical process does the term “modernity” try to explain or comprehend? Under the theme, “Trivial of Modernity”.

The eighth Dharma and Ethics conference, by Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Ghent University, Belgium was organized in collaboration with Aarohi Research Foundation, Bengaluru, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHS, at the SDM PG College, Ujire, India) and the India Platform at Alva’s Education Foundation, Mudabidri, June 2016. The conference focused on understanding a) the significance of Vivekananda’s intuitions for social sciences and the study of Indian culture in the 21st century and b) his distortion of the western Christian concepts and what this tells us about Indian culture and its traditions. Some of the specific themes that this conference intends to take up for discussion are Vivekananda’s views on nationalism, politics, Hinduism and Christianity, social reform, education and cultural differences.

Maatukathe Series

Maatukathe is a series of courses on philosophy of science organized by Aarohi Research Foundation.

The first course of the series, focused on understanding the notion of “Science” and elaborate discussions were led by Prof. Narahari Rao. The discussions drew the attention of the participants in at least two different ways by which “science” is understood. First, when we counter-pose doing things haphazardly to a way of doing it scientifically, we mean science to be doing things in a methodical manner. Second, we also use the word to refer to some well-established academic disciplines like physics or biology. The second course of the series focused on engagement with theory making in terms of narration building.

Samvada Lahari

Samvada Lahari is a two-day workshop organized by Ramananda Ainakai, Sirsi. The 2016 Samvada Lahari event was organized in collaboration with Aarohi Research Foundation on 6th and 7th January 2016 at Ainakai Mane, Sirsi. The workshop was on reading and discussing ‘Orientalism’.

Pratyabhijnana Workshop Series

The Pratyabhijnana series of workshops “Revisiting Vivekananda” began early in 2015. This continued across different months in 2015 and 2016 as well along with scholars from the Centre for Study of Local Cultures (CSLC), Kuvempu University, Shimogga. This workshop series culminated in the VI Dharma and Ethics conference in June 2016. The Aarohi group attended the workshop and actively participated in it.

Workshop on ‘Castes of India’

The workshop was meant for the research groups from Ghent, SDM Ujire and Aarohi Research Foundation, Bengaluru from 10th to 13th January 2016 at Rashtrothana Parishad, Bengaluru. The focus was to present newly formulated ideas on ‘caste’ research within the group. Dr. Jakob de Roover, Dr. Martin Farek, Dunkin Jalki and others from the groups presented papers and were discussed in the workshop.

International Conference on ‘Liberal Education and the Future of University’

The focus of the event was to raise questions on important issues regarding liberal education. The conference was attended by scholars from different universities from across many countries. The conference was organized in collaboration with Aarohi research foundation at BMS College of Engineering on 10th and 11th June 2016.

Teaching Cross-cultural Management

Aarohi Research Foundation taught a module which included ‘Culture and Management’ to the students of B.M.S., Jain University. 15 sessions of 2 hours each beginning mid-January till the first week of March 2018 were held in this regard.

Gita Reading Series with Prof. S.N Balagangadhara

Aarohi Research Foundation organized a series of Gita Reading sessions with Prof. S.N. Balagangadhara. The first two chapters of the Bhagavad Gita were read under his guidance in a series of sessions on 20th March - 31st March 2018 and 26th November - 27th December 2018.

Workshop on Reading Indian Texts

((4) Aarohi Research Foundation Bengaluru - YouTube)

On 9th and 10th June 2018 Aarohi Research Foundation organized a two-day workshop titled “Reading Indian Texts”. The workshop was held at Rashtrothana Parishad where Prof. Balu discussed some issues related to problems that exist in reading Indian texts. He used Bhagavad Gita and some selected parts of Upanishads to demonstrate the case.

Rethinking History & Past Workshop

The “Rethinking History & Past” workshop was held between 2nd and 4th April 2021 under our previous initiative called India Studies Unit, Centre for Educational and Social Studies, Bengaluru. The workshop was held on the CESS campus. The aim of the workshop was to reflect on the significance of the notion of ‘itihaasa’ in terms of how Indians relate to their past as against the notion of ‘history’ by which western culture understands the past.

Public Discourse Workshop

The “Public Discourse” workshop was held on 30th April & 1st May 2022 at Yuvaka Sangha, Bengaluru under our previous initiative called India Studies Unit, Centre for Educational & Social Studies (CESS), Bengaluru. The workshop focused on rethinking the nature of politics that is built into the public discourse that exists about Indian culture and society in the public media.

Village Mapping Technic Development

The “Village Mapping Technique Development” workshop was organized by our previous initiative called the Centre for Study of Cultures, Chanakya University, Bengaluru in association with KSRDPRU, Gadag & Abdul Nazir Sab Study Chair, Kuvempu University, Shivamoga on 17th & 18th June 2022 at Yuvaka Sangha, Bengaluru. The aim of the workshop was to understand and develop the technological requirements to study and address the challenges of villages in India backed by the experiential understanding of villages which Indian culture provides us with.

Translation and Culture Workshop Series

“Translation & Culture” is a series of workshops conducted at various academic institutions across India as part of a translation project “Knowledge in Indian Languages, Translation and Machines: Problems and Pitfalls” sponsored by the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India. The project was designed at our previous initiative called Centre for Study of Cultures, Chanakya University, Bengaluru. The project spanned between November 2022 and April 2023. The workshops aimed at discussing the role of differences in Western and Indian cultures that lead to the problem of accessing knowledge, through translations, which the cultures have produced. The following workshops were conducted:

1.“Anuvada Lahari”, organized in collaboration with Jeevanmukhi Trust, Sirsi & Dept. of Political Science, Kuvempu University, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at Ainakai Mane, Sirsi on 12th & 13th November 2022.

2.“Translation & Culture”, Organized in collaboration with Yuvapatha, Bengaluru, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at Yuvapatha, Bengaluru on 10th & 11th December 2022.

3.“Translation & Culture”, organized in collaboration with Centre for Human Sciences, Rishihood University, Delhi, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi on 21st & 22nd January 2023.

4.“Translation & Culture”, organized in collaboration with Tripura University, Tripura. Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at Tripura University on 2nd & 3rd February 2023.

5.“Translation & Culture”, organized in collaboration with Centre for Multi-disciplinary Development Research (CMDR), Dharwad, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at CMRD, Dharwad on 9th & 10th February 2023.

6.“Translation & Culture”, organized in collaboration with MIT ADT University & MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at MIT ADT University, Pune on 13th & 14th March 2023.

7.“Translation & Culture”, organized in collaboration with Gujrat University, Gujrat & Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti at Gujrat University on 13th & 14th March 2023.

Workshop on Key Indian Political Concepts

The “Key Indian Political Concepts" workshop was organized by our previous initiative called the Centre for Study of Cultures, Chanakya University, Bengaluru in association with Raichur University, Raichur and Kuvempu University, Shivamoga on 15th and 16th March, 2024 at Chanakya University, Bengaluru. The workshop was aimed at bringing together scholars from Sanskrit traditions and political scientists to enable conversation among them about a few key concepts in politics with a view of developing an encyclopedia of Key Political Concepts.

Translation Workshop with Indica

Centre for Study of Cultures conducted a Workshop in collaboration with Indica titled "The Problem of Intercultural Translation: India and European Texts," at the Ritambara Retreat in Bengaluru on May 6 and 7, 2023. The workshop was designed to examine the complexities of translating between Indian and European languages, with a particular focus on the relationship between language, knowledge, and experience. Discussions delved into the historical context of the British education system's impact on native languages in India and explored the inherent challenges of translating texts that carry significant cultural differences. The central idea was to arm participants with a deeper understanding of these issues so they could, in turn, help sensitize others.

Bhakti Workshop with Raichur University

Centre for Study of Cultures, Chanakya University, Bengaluru conducted a workshop on Bhakti in collaboration with Raichur University at Raichur University, Raichur on 26th and 27th September 2023. The aim of the workshop was to revisit the existing descriptions on Bhakti, understanding its limitations and developing a conceptual framework to understand Bhakti traditions of India.

Book Release Events

1. Aarohi Research Foundation (our earlier initiative) with Nilume group organised the releasing of two books “Kotta Kudureyenralariyade” and “Buddhi Jeevigala Moodanambike”. The books were released by Prof. S.N. Balagangadhara, Ghent University, Belgium on 1st March 2015 at Mythic Society, Bengaluru.

2. Aarohi Research Foundation (our earlier initiative) organised a book release function where Prof. Sripad Bhat’s book “Shodha Parishodha” was released. Several dignitaries, including Prof. Rajarama Hegde, Prof of History from Kuvempu University, Eres present at the event. The event was held at Mythic Society, Bengaluru on 21st August 2016.

3. On 8th April 2018, Aarohi Research Foundation (our earlier initiative) organised book release events of two reprinted books “Smriti, Vismriti: Bharitiya Samskruti” and “Poorvavalokana: Vasahatu Prajne maatu Samskrutika Adhyayana” at the Mythic Society, Bengaluru. Prof. Rajarama Hegde, Prof of History from Kuvempu University and Prof. S. N. Balagangadhara, Ghent University, Belgium released the books and addressed the gathering.(Mythic Society Book Rerelease 08Apr18)

4. On November 23, 2019, Arohi Research Foundation (our earlier initiative) organised a book release event at Indian Institute of World Culture, Bengaluru. Three Kannada books containing articles based on the works of Prof. S.N. Balagangadhara was officially released. Two of the books, "Baudhika Dasysdalli Bharata" and "Buddhijeevigala Mudanambikegalu," were second reprints, while the third, "Daaritappida Samskriti Chintane," was a new publication. The release event was attended by Prof. Rajaram Hegde, Retired Professor from the Department of Ancient History & Archeology at Kuvempu University, and Dr. Nanda Kishore M.S., Associate Professor and Head in-charge of the Department of Geopolitics & International Relations at Manipal University, who jointly presided over the book launch.

Conferences and Workshops