The City and the Forest in Indian Literature and Art

It has been more than a decade now since, mainly thanks to the efforts of Prof. Giuliano Boccali (State University of Milan),Prof. Lidia Sudyka (Jagiellonian University in Cracow) and Prof. Jaroslav Vacek (Charles University in Prague),a group of specialists in Classical Indian literature began meeting, to gradually form a tradition of annual seminars devoted to chosen aspects of their research area; joint publications soon followed. The participants of the seminars, and the contributors to the publications, are not only staff members and students of the three universities mentioned above, but other Italian, Polish and Czech scholars, as well as scholars from other European countries (Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and India. For the most part, their contributions explore Sanskrit and Prakrit kavya, Old Tamil cankam, Hindi riti literature and alamkarasastra; however, if the subject of the seminar / publication suggests it, some papers may investigate other Indian literatures, Indian philosophy, religion and ritual, and Indian visual arts as well. This furthers the understanding of Classical Indian literature, which can thus be seen in a broader context and from a comparative perspective.