About Me

Mrinal Kaul read Sanskrit and Indological literatures first in Srinagar (Kashmir), and then in Delhi, Pune, Varanasi, Oxford, Montréal, and Naples (Italy). His main research interest focuses on the history of ideas in pre-modern South Asia, particularly Abhinavagupta’s Trika Śaivism. He also studies early and post-scriptural Śaiva literature, Social History, History of Literary Cultures, Sanskrit language and literature, Classical Indian philosophical literatures, Trika Śaivism, Tantric literatures, Philosophy of Religion, Indian Manuscript Cultures, Philology and Textual Criticism, Post-Colonial Theory, Orientalism, Gender Studies, Language Politics, Conflict and Partition Studies, Kashmirian Islamic and Sufi Traditions, Kashmiri and Indo-Persian literary cultures. The focus of his thesis was Abhinavagupta’s (10th CE) Theory of Reflection that comprised of a critically edited text, translation and study of the pratibimbavāda as discussed in the Tantrālokaviveka (3.1-65). After having taught in the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Naples (Italy) for three years he is now a teaching fellow in the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University, India.

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