Podcast Summary: Purana Media: Past, Present, Future

Podcast: New Books Network (New Books in Indian Religions)
Host: Raj Balkram
Guests: Dr. Elizabeth A. Cecil (Florida State University), Dr. Peter C. Bisschop (Leiden University)
Release Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers around the launch of Purana Media, an innovative, open-access journal dedicated to expanding and reimagining the study of Puranas—ancient Indian texts—by treating them as dynamic, ongoing cultural practices rather than static literary objects. Dr. Elizabeth Cecil and Dr. Peter Bisschop, the founding editors, discuss the journal's genesis, unique approach, content of its inaugural issue, and broader ambitions for fostering interdisciplinary dialogue across academic and creative communities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Genesis and Vision of Purana Media

• Cecil and Bisschop explain the backstory of the journal, originating from their desire to open up conversations about Puranas beyond just texts, embracing multiple perspectives and forms of cultural transmission.
  → “We’ve been engaged in the study of Puranas… but through our conversations, we’ve been thinking more about taking the notion of Purana seriously, really thinking with the term.” (Peter Bisschop, 02:49)
• The journal aims to treat Purana both as literary tradition and as “a kind of cultural practice”—alive, material, and relevant in the present.
  → “One of the things we're trying to do with this journal is take the conversations that we've been having about Purana and think about them in our contemporary context... as something that is also active and important in the modern world.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 03:47)
• Purana Media is intentionally not a conventional academic journal; it welcomes research articles, artist statements, photo essays, and other creative forms.
  → “It seemed that having a journal that was not the kind of traditional research articles only... might be a good way to bring in other voices, people who might not normally consider themselves part of Puranic studies per se.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 03:47)

2. Purana as World-Making and Cultural Practice

• The editors draw on philosopher Nelson Goodman’s concept of “world-making” to frame Purana as an ever-evolving practice, not just a reflection on or of the past.
  → “The way we approach it is rather as a cultural practice, as something that is actively engaged in by the participants of Puranic world-making... different agents in the process and thereby also different media.” (Peter Bisschop, 06:23)
• Emphasis is given to the unique temporality of the Purana, where the primordial past is always present, thus bridging past, present, and future.
  → “One of the things that characterizes the primordial is its ability to still be current, to still be powerful, to still kind of charge the present and also to think about the future as well.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 07:53)
• This “cyclical unfolding” is argued to be crucial for understanding contemporary culture, politics, and artistic expression.
• The editors also highlight the need to look at Purana as both spatial and material practices—how narratives are embedded in and enacted through spaces, artifacts, and communal rituals.
  → “Purana is a spatial practice… [it’s] also a material practice… part of vast material infrastructures that people have lived in for generations.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 12:29)

3. Innovations and Methodological Shifts

• Traditional Puranic studies, which have been largely textual and philological, are here opened up to methodological pluralism involving material culture, archaeology, performance, and diaspora studies.
  → “These texts are not there for themselves. They're part of a cultural process. And that means you cannot bracket out all those various fields.” (Peter Bisschop, 11:04)
• Approaches include engaging with communities, pilgrimage practices, sacred geographies, and diasporic adaptations.
• The materiality of Purana is highlighted through examples like the Descent of the Ganga, whose cosmological motif reappears across South and Southeast Asian art and installations.
  → “The same event is recreated through material culture… massive carved installations across south and Southeast Asia.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 12:29)

4. Content of the Inaugural Issue (see 17:17–24:05)

• The journal’s first issue demonstrates its wide scope by including:
  • Research Articles:
    • Jim Mallinson: Representation of ascetics—aesthetics, the club as lineage marker.
    • Ayelet Kotler: Persian Purana translations, analyzing illustrated manuscripts and transmission.
    • Gaurika Mehta: Oceanic origins and deities in the Indo-Caribbean Madrasi diaspora—tracing transcultural migration.
  • Photo Essays:
    • Avni Chauch: Vaishnava community’s relic manuscripts in the Bodleian Library.
    • Arya Detien: Human-animal hybrid figures and the ritual performance of Bhoota Kola in South Karnataka.
  • Artist Statement:
    • Sembulli Up Tol: A Khmer-Dutch artist, using Puranic motifs in multimedia art to process ancestral trauma and diasporic experience.
• The editors stress that such diverse contributions show Purana’s relevance for artists, practitioners, and scholars of all backgrounds. → “We are not just looking… for the typical academic scholars, but also for other groups who may have some relation to this.” (Peter Bisschop, 22:08)
• Notable thematic resonance is noted between Mehta’s article and Sam’s artist’s statement, both revealing how Purana can help communities process trauma and reconnect with the past.

5. Open Access and Future Issues

• Open access is a foundational principle, intended to maximize reach and impact. The first issue is entirely free to access.
• Second issue (forthcoming): Focused on “Heritage,” featuring articles and interviews with museum curators (Nepal, US, Europe) discussing repatriation of objects, colonial legacy, and curatorial practices.
  → “We’ll have a set of interviews with museum curators... all involved in repatriating objects that were located in museum collections as a result of colonial practice.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 27:03)
• Third issue: Submissions now open; the journal is keen to receive multimedia, audio, short films, and contributions from beyond academia.
• Ongoing invitation for feedback to improve and widen the journal’s scope and accessibility.

6. Reflections on the Process & Hopes for the Journal

• The editors reflect on the technical, editorial, and institutional challenges of launching an open-access digital journal, expressing particular appreciation for digital humanities support.
  → “It’s one thing to have the idea... then confronted with the reality of actually making this happen. We were really supported by FSU’s Open Journal Publishing.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 24:41)
• The journal aims to be a creative platform that fosters dialogue across disciplines, geographies, and communities—not imposing strict boundaries, but letting organic collaborations and unexpected forms emerge.
  → “We would like Purana to be taken seriously as a cultural practice… take it right into the present… from there, we would ideally like to have people coming from very different disciplines.” (Peter Bisschop, 29:21)
• They emphasize their openness to evolution and experimentation, excited that the initiative’s full scope will be shaped with and by its contributors.
  → “We're very open to dialogue… with artists, with practitioners, with people working in fields kind of outside... academia as well. To use this journal as a forum to promote new kinds of knowledge.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 30:14)
• Reiterated call for feedback, submissions, and community engagement as the journal is “a work in progress.”
  → “We’re definitely open to and encouraging of feedback from the community… we'd love to hear from people who are using it and if any potential contributors have questions.” (Elizabeth Cecil, 32:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On expanding the conversation:
  “We were trying to kind of find new ways to open up that conversation.”
  (Elizabeth Cecil, 03:47)

• On world-making:
  “We try to look at this notion of Purana and Purana’s world-making from the perspective of different agents in the process and thereby also different media...”
  (Peter Bisschop, 06:23)

• On temporality:
  “Its ability to still be current, to still be powerful, to still kind of charge the present and also to think about the future as well.”
  (Elizabeth Cecil, 07:53)

• On methodology:
  “In the end, these texts are not there for themselves. They’re part of a cultural process.”
  (Peter Bisschop, 11:04)

• On inclusivity:
  “We are not just looking... for the typical academic scholars, but also for other groups who may have some relation to this.”
  (Peter Bisschop, 22:08)

• On future directions:
  “We’re also curious to see where this will take us. So this is really a new type of journal that has a lot of potential to go in different directions also in terms of types of media.”
  (Peter Bisschop, 28:16)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• The founding of Purana Media: 02:41–05:21
• Purana as world-making (theoretical framework): 06:23–09:38
• Innovative methodologies & media: 11:04–15:08
• Overview of inaugural issue’s contents: 17:17–24:05
• Inclusivity and cross-disciplinary invitation: 21:14–22:50
• Reflections on process & open access: 24:41–27:03
• Future issues and submissions: 27:03–28:43
• Vision for the journal’s evolution: 29:21–32:20
• Invitation for feedback & closing remarks: 31:38–34:10

Takeaways

Purana Media represents a significant, cross-cutting innovation in the field of Indian religious studies and cultural history—modeling inclusivity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public accessibility. It encourages academics, artists, curators, and community practitioners alike to participate in the living tradition of the Purana, treating the “ancient” as an active, transformative force.

For more information or to read/contribute to the journal, follow the link in the podcast notes.