Wikipedia Trail: From Hanuman to the American Institute of Indian Studies

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 I began with the Wikipedia page on Hanuman since I previously read through it for this week's storytelling. It was an interesting read, and one part that caught my attention was how there was limited archaelogical evidence of the worship of Hanuman. Even though the deity played a prominent role in the Ramayna, movements dedicated to the god emerged about 1,000 years later. One of the first movements that worshipped him with significance was the Bhakti movement, and it lead me to the second Wikipedia page. This movement was influential in the social reform for Hinduism and was the catalyst for Sikhism. I was reading through the history of the Bhakti movement, and American Indologist Wendy Doniger suggested that this movement was significantly influenced by Islam, especially with the idea of surrendering to god. I was curious to learn more about Wendy Doniger, and this led me to the third Wikipedia page. Dr. Doniger was born in New York City and attended both Radcliffe College and Harvard. Her work is extensive and very prominent in Indology, and I was curious to learn more about her biography. I noticed that she studied at the American Institute of Indian Studies, which led me to the fourth Wikipedia page. This institute involved 87 universities to promote knowledge of India in the United States. It was founded in 1961, and its current headquarters are at the University of Chicago. The institute has a range of learning centers across India to allow students to learn more about Indology.

AIIS Campus in Haryana, India. Source: Wikipedia


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