Faculty

Molly Kaushal is former Professor and Head, Janapada Sampada Division at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi (IGNCA).  She is a folklorist by training and obtained her PhD from Moscow State University, Moscow, in Russian and Indian Folklore. Before joining Ahmedabad University, she was the Mission Director for the National Mission on Cultural Mapping, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, housed at the IGNCA.

Professor Kaushal has a rich and varied experience in the field of research, documentation, and safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of diverse communities of India. During her career span of more than 30 years, she initiated several research initiatives, conceptualised, and supervised many field studies, surveys, and research projects at the IGNCA and was the Principal Investigator and Project Head, Living Traditions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, an area where she has made significant contribution, building up a massive audio-visual archive, bringing out translations and publications, and creating a platform for a dialogue between the artists and scholars.

She has done extensive research among the Gaddi, a sheep herding community of Himachal Pradesh, exploring concepts of space and time and engaging with areas ranging from domestic to pastoral spaces, ritual and performance, oral epics, and daily lifestyle.

As a convenor of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) at the IGNCA, she engaged with several safeguarding projects in collaboration with UNESCO and was responsible for the preparation of nomination dossiers on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2nd and 3rd cycles. As part of this exercise, she rediscovered and revitalised the almost extinct tradition of Ramman, a ritual theatre of Garhwal Himalayas based on the Ramayana, establishing a community-run cultural resource centre in collaboration with community representatives and state stakeholders. She also initiated the compilation of the first web-based national inventory for ICH for the IGNCA. (ignca.nic.in).

She is the curator of  many research based thematic exhibitions and cultural festivals. She has also directed and scripted several ethnographic films.

• Evolving methodologies for community-based inventorying of ICH - A case study of Gujarat among the Maldharis of Banni region, Kutch, Gujarat (with UNESCO)
• Folk and Tribal Traditions of Ramkatha
• Living Traditions of the Mahabharata
• Ramlila Performance Traditions
• Ramman: Ritual Theatre of Garhwal
• Performance Traditions among the Indian Muslims
• Bhagat Vani in Shri Guru Granth Sahib
• Storytelling traditions through speaking objects - puppets, masks and scrolls
• Oral epics and chanted narratives of India
• Folk Paintings of North India and Intangible Cultural Heritage (with the Ministry of Textiles)
• Space and Time among the Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh

Books: Edited, co- edited and co-authored

• 2020 Gond Ramayani (co-ed.), IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2019 Aesthetic Textures: Living Traditions of Mahabharata (co-edited), D. K. Printworlds, New Delhi
• 2017 Ramman: Eik Sanskritic Virasat (Co-authored), IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2015 Ramkatha in Narrative, Performance and Pictorial Traditions (co-ed.) Aryan International, New Delhi
• 2008 The Word and its Resonance: Bhagat Bani in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, (co-edited) IGNCA- Panjabi Academy, New Delhi
• 2004 Folklore, Public Sphere and Civil Society, IGNCA-NFSC, (co-ed.) New Delhi
• 2004 Journeys, Heroes, Pilgrims, Explorers, (co-ed.), IIC, Penguin Viking, New Delhi 
• 2001 Chanted Narratives: The Living Katha-Vachana Tradition, (edited), D. K. Printworlds, IGNCA, New Delhi

Exhibition Catalogues: (Published)

• 2021 Leela: An Exhibition on Ramayana, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2020 Likhiya: An Exhibition on Mithila Painting; (co-authored), IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2016 Akhyan: Masks, Puppets and Picture Showmen in Narrative Traditions of India, IGNCA, New Delhi

Festival Catalogues (Printed)

• 2015 Ramlila – A Festival celebrating the Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage of Humanity, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2011 Indigenous Theatre Festival of North East India, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2011 Jaya Utsav: Celebrating Living Traditions of Mahabharata, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2010 Celebrating Inter-Cultural Dialogue: North East India and South East Asia, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2010 Akhyan: Celebration of Masks, Puppets and Picture Showmen Traditions, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2008 Aqeedat Ke Rang – Hind Islamic Tehzeeb ke Sang - Composite Cultures of India, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2008 Anhad Naad – A Festival celebrating the spirit of Punjab, IGNCA, New Delhi
• 2008 Ramkatha: Ankan, Manchan aur Vachan, IGNCA, New Delhi

Printed Reports

• Sanjhi: Ancestral Spaces, Maiden Desires, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Housing the Divine: Mandana Art Form of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Where Body is the Canvas: The Art of Tattooing (Gudna), IGNCA, New Delhi
• Gond Paintings of Madhya Pradesh: An Interface of Tradition and Modernity, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Thapas: Imprinting the Divine, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Pithora: The Mythic and Ritual Art Tradition of the Bhils of Madhya Pradesh, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Bhil Adivasi Lok Chitrankan: Bhil Artists and Their Shifting Frontiers, IGNCA, New Delhi
• Chiteras of Chitera Auli (Gwalior): An Interface of Gwalior Kalam and Chitera Kala, IGNCA New Delhi

Web Publication

• National Inventory on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ignca.nic.in)

Translations (Published in DVD format)

• Mewati Ramkatha - in original and English Translation
• Bundeli Ramkatha (2 volumes) - in original and English Translation
• Bhili Ramkatha - in original and English Translation

Films:  Directed and Scripted

• 2020 Gujarat - Folk Riddles of the Maldharis
• 2017 Leela in Kheriya – A Hindu-Muslim Ramlila Tradition of Kheriya
• 2016 Satrangi Sapne - Bangle DreamZ
• 2016 Carpet weaving
• 2016 Glass India: Born from Fire, 2016
• 2009 Landscaping the Divine – Space and Time among the Gaddi, 2009

Exhibitions Curated (Selected list)

• 2020 Likhiya: An Exhibition on Mithila Painting; (co- curated with Manisha Jha),
• 2017 Leela: An Exhibition on Ramayana-and Ramlila Traditions,
• 2016 Ramayana through Visual Arts and Performed Narratives,
• 2016, 2012 Gond Ramayani: An Exhibition on Gond Paintings on Ramayana,
• 2011 Sacred Geography and Performance: Living Traditions of Mahabharata, 2011
• 2010 and 2014-15 Akhyan: Masks, Puppets and Picture Showmen Traditions in India, (In Delhi and Spain)
• 2008 Ramkatha: Ankan, Manchan aur Vachan

Cultural Festivals Curated (Selected list)

• 2017 Lokgatha: Indian Epics and Ballads in Performance (in Chitrakoot and Delhi)
• 2015 Ramlila – A Festival celebrating the Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage of Humanity
• 2011 Indigenous Theatre Festival of North East India
• 2011 Jaya Utsav: Celebrating Living Traditions of Mahabharata
• 2010 Inter-Cultural Dialogue between North East India and South East Asia
• 2010 Akhyan: Masks, Puppets and Picture Showmen Traditions in India
• 2009 Braj Mahotsav: Celebrating Cultural Heritage of Braj Region (Coordinated and Co-organised with Acharya Shrivatsa Goswami, Project Director, Braja Prakalpa, IGNCA)
• 2009 and 2006 Celebrating the Nomad: Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh
• 2008 Aqeedat Ke Rang – Hind Islamic Tehzeeb ke Sang - Festival Celebrating Composite Culture of India
• 2008 Anhad Naad – A Festival Celebrating the Musical Heritage of Punjab
• 2008 Living Traditions of Ramkatha
• 2008 Kauthik – Celebrating Cultural Heritage of Garhwal Himalaya

Some Major National/International Conferences organised (Selected list)

• 2021 Mapping Cultures, Safeguarding Heritage, National Mission on Cultural Mapping
• 2020 Lok Rang: Folk Theatre of India, An online Conference
• 2018 SAARC Regional Conference on Hindu Trails in Collaboration with SAARC Cultural   Centre       
• 2015 International Conference on Ramlila- Epic Processes: Mobility, Patronage and Aesthetics
• 2011 International Conference on Living Traditions of Mahabharata
• 2011 National Symposium on Indigenous Theatre of North East India
• 2010 International Conference on Inter-Cultural Dialogue between North East India & South East Asia
• 2008 Ramkatha: Ankan, Manchan aur Vacchan; International Seminar on Folk and Tribal Traditions of Ramkatha, 2008
• 2008 Anhad Naad – National Conference on Musical Traditions of Punjab
• 2008 Ramkatha: Ankan Manchan aur Vaachan- International Conference
• 2008 and 2007 Aqeedat ke Rang – National Conference on Expressions of Devotion in Islam
• 2006 Confluence of Traditions: Bhagat Bani in Shri Guru Granth Sahib: National Seminar