Conference: Remembering Komal Kothari

[Guest guest]

The following event announcement is being forwarded to your mailing

list or listserv from the Events Calendar section of SARAI. Please

contact event organizer for further information. David Magier

 

---------------------------

 

Maxine K Weisgrau <mkw3

 

REMEMBERING KOMAL KOTHARI: A conference on intellectual contributions to

scholarship on Rajasthan and Folklore

 

Thursday, May 20 2004 Southern Asian Reading Room, 601 Butler Library,

Columbia University, New York City (timing TBD)

 

Please join students, family, and friends of Padmasri Komal Kothari at a

gathering to honor his contributions to scholarship on folklore in India.

 

The purpose of this announcement is two-fold:

. please save the date and RSVP

. let us know if you're interested in presenting (15-20) minute

papers on your work and Komalda's contributions to it.

 

We will update you all as the program evolves, and a schedule of speakers

is announced. We hope to see you there.

 

Regards...Carol Henderson, David Magier, Maxine Weisgrau

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maxine Weisgrau, PhD

Associate Term Professor

Anthropology/Women's Studies

Barnard College/Columbia University

411b Milbank Hall

New York, NY 10027

212-854-2236

 

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Komal Kothari passes away

 

 

With profound grief we inform all the members that the founder of institute of folklore "Rupayan" and a renowned scholar

passed away on 20th April 2004 at Jodhpur at 11.35 pm. He was

seventy-five.

 

Born in 1929 in a village in Rajasthan, Komal Kothari distinguished

himself as a folklorist not only in the country but all over the

world. For more than 50 years he researched and documented the

performing arts of the region making notable contributions to studies

in many areas of folklore in particular to study of musical

instruments, regional oral traditions and puppetry. A pioneer in many

areas of folklore, he founded the =91Rupayan Sansthan=92 in early sixties.

 

Kothari served as a consultant guide to several institutions and

research scholars from all over the world. He was Indian

representative at many international fora for study of

ethnomusicology. He was published widely and has instrumental in the

production of a definitive series of gramophone records, cassettes,

compact discs and a number of documentaries on Rajasthani folklore.

He received several national and international awards including

Padamshri and Padam Bhushan, the highest civilian award bestowed by

the President of India.

 

Kothari had been in different health for several years and he was

hospitalised for the last 3 months. He passed away peacefully in

midst of his family members. Kothari headed a big joint family and is

survived by his wife Smt. Indira, two sons- Prashant and Kuldeep, and

three daughters Uttra, Chitra and Mitra. His funeral was largely

attended and was given state honour.

 

In his last days, Kothari was deeply involved in his dream project of

setting up a unique ethnographic museum for which the state

government has donated a large peace of land at Arana Jharna,

Mocalawas - a picturesque outer Jodhpur city. The museum of his dream

aims at to have objects of daily use rather than those of historic or

exotic significance. The museum will relate the story of the creative

ingenuity of the common folk by tracing the history of tangible

cultural objects and role they played in their daily life.

 

Kuldeep Kothari:

E-mail: rajfolk_jp1

Address: Rupayan Sansthan, Paota B/2 road, Jodhpur- 342010, Rajasthan

Tel.: 291-2546359, 2551524 Fax: 91-291-2454354