Shivam Singh at 05:57, 5 May 2026

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{{Short description|Austrian-born Indian scholar (born 1940)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox philosopher
|name = Bettina Bäumer
|image = Bettina Baeumer1.jpg
|othername = Bettina Sharada Bäumer
|birth_name = Bettina Bäumer
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1940|04|12}}
|birth_place = [[Salzburg]], Austria
|alma_mater = [[University of Salzburg]]<br />[[LMU Munich]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]])
|main_interests = [[Kashmir Shaivism]]
|occupation = [[Indologist]]
|citizenship = {{ubl|Austria {{small|(1940–2011)}}|India {{small|(2011–present)}}}}
|awards = [[Austrian Decoration for Science and Art]] (2012)<br/>[[Padma Shri]] (2015)<br/>Ulrich Winkler Award (2023)
|website = {{URL|http://www.utpaladeva.in}}
}}

'''Bettina Sharada Bäumer''' (born 12 April 1940) is an Austrian-born Indian [[Religious studies|scholar of religion]].<ref name="bb">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fondationalaindanielou.org/intellectual-dialogue/transcultural-dialogues/cahiers-de-la-fondation-indialogues-n13-winter-solstice-2017-3/|title=Bettina Bäumer at the Labyrinth|first=Adrián|last=Navigante|website=FIND (India-Europe Foundation for New Dialogues)|date=2017|access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.utpaladeva.in/index.php?id=1290|title=Bettina Sharada Bäumer|website=utpaladeva.com|access-date=16 August 2022|archive-date=26 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526105833/https://www.utpaladeva.in/index.php?id=1290|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bäumer has been described by Vandana Parthasarathy, writing in ''[[The Hindu]]'', as a "renowned [[Indologist]], one of the foremost expounders of [[Kashmir Saivism]] and a well-known figure in the field of interreligious dialogue".<ref name="Hindu-20060808">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2006/08/08/stories/2006080800311300.htm|title=Themes in art and mysticism|last=Parthasarathy|first=Vanamala|date=2006-08-08|work=The Hindu|access-date=9 April 2012|location=Chennai}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> She was awarded the [[Austrian Decoration for Science and Art]] by Government of Austria in 2012 and [[Padma Shri]] by Government of India in 2015 for her contribution to Literature and Education.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/three-padma-awards-bring-laurels-to-city/articleshow/46041134.cms|title=Three Padma awards bring laurels to city|work=The Times of India|date=28 January 2015}}</ref> She was awarded the Ulrich Winkler Award for Comparative Theology and Study of Religions in 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salzburger-hochschulwochen.at/aktuelles/265/salzburg-ulrich-winkler-awards-fuer-interreligioesen-dialog-verliehen&ts=1692906825047|title=Salzburg: "Ulrich Winkler Awards" für interreligiösen Dialog verliehen|website=salzburger-hochschulwochen.at|publisher=Salzburger Hochschulwochen
|date=5 August 2023|lang=de}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
She was born in [[Salzburg]] on 12 April 1940 to Prof. Eduard Bäumer and Valerie Bäumer and secured her High School Leaving Certificate ([[Matura]]) in [[Salzburg]] in 1959. She pursued higher studies in Philosophy, Religion, Theology and Music at the [[University of Salzburg]], the [[University of Vienna]], the [[University of Zurich]], [[Sapienza University of Rome]], and [[LMU Munich]] between 1959 and 1967. Her Ph.D. thesis ''Creation as Play: The concept of Lila in Hinduism, its Philosophical and Theological Significance'' was presented at LMU Munich where she secured her doctorate of philosophy in 1967.<ref name="UnSa"/> Bäumer took the Indian name "Sharada" while applying for citizenship,<ref name="bb"/> and became an Indian citizen in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/neelmatamvol1issueno1mar2011nityanandshastrikashmirresearchinstitute/page/n19/mode/2up |title=Neelmatam Vol 1 Issue No 1 |publisher=Nityanand Shastri Kashmir Research Institute |page=19 |date=March 2011 }}</ref>

==Career==
She was appointed a professor at the Institute for the Study of Religions, University of Vienna in 1997 and in 2002 gained a doctorate ''[[honoris causa]]'' from the University of Salzburg, the first to do so from the university's Faculty of Theology.<ref name="UnSa">{{cite web|url=https://www.sbg.ac.at/syt/CV/baeumer-CV-sik.pdf|title=Frau Prof. Dr.h.c. Bettina Bäumer, Curriculum Vitae|publisher=Universitat Salzburg|access-date=3 April 2012|location=Salzburg, Austria}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

She has lived in India for over four decades, having found "belonging in Hinduism" and is quoted as emphasising that; "getting to know another religion does not permit using it as a quarry to be mined"<ref name="CheethamWinkler2011">{{cite book|author1=David Cheetham|author2=Ulrich Winkler|author3=Oddbjorn Leirvik|author4=Judith Gruber|title=Interreligious Hermeneutics in Pluralistic Europe: Between Texts and People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-VVzTtuGukC&pg=PA249|access-date=3 April 2012|date=22 April 2011|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-90-420-3337-5}}</ref> She conducted post-doctoral research in Indian philosophy and [[Sanskrit]] at [[Banaras Hindu University]] ([[Varanasi]]), where she worked as an assistant and lecturer, under a reciprocal scholarship from the government of India.<ref name="Bayerová2010">{{cite book|author=Tatjana Bayerová|title=Heritage Conservation and Research in India: 60 Years of Indo-Austrian Collaboration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqDKSZUEi6gC&pg=PA46|access-date=10 April 2012|year=2010|publisher=Böhlau Verlag Wien|isbn=978-3-205-78561-3|pages=46–}}</ref> She has done field work in [[Odisha]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ahymsin.org/docs2/News/1704/06.html|title=October Retreat with Bettina Bäumer|website=ahymsin.org|date=October 2017|access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref>

She worked in the [[University of Vienna]] ([[Indology]]) and as director of the Research of the [[Alice Boner|Alice Bonner]] Foundation for Fundamental Research in Indian Art and has been a visiting professor at the [[University of Vienna]], the [[University of Salzburg]] and the [[University of Berne]].<ref name="Bayerová2010" /> She has been honorary coordinator of the Kalatattvakosa programme, and editor of ''Kalatattvakosa: a Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts'', respectively conducted and published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.<ref name="VatsyayanBäumer1988">{{cite book|author1=Kapila Vatsyayan|author2=Bettina Bäumer|author3=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts|title=Kalātattvakośa: a lexicon of fundamental concepts of the Indian arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1XoNhUrP1MC&pg=PR8|access-date=10 April 2012|year=1988|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi|isbn=978-81-208-0584-2|pages=viii}}</ref> She has been a fellow at [[Harvard University]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/research-appointments/past-affiliates/past-affiliates-a-c|title=Past Affiliates A-C|website=cswr.hds.harvard.edu|access-date=20 March 2023|archive-date=19 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319191456/https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/research-appointments/past-affiliates/past-affiliates-a-c|url-status=dead}}</ref> and at the [[Indian Institute of Advanced Study]], [[Shimla]]. In 2009, she was director of ''Samvidalaya'' at the Abhinavagupta Research Library, Varanasi. She was the co-chairperson of the fifteenth [[World Sanskrit Conference]], held in [[New Delhi]] in 2012.<ref name="IASS-20121">{{cite web|url=http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/iassn11.pdf|title=NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SANSKRIT STUDIES|last=Brockington|first=John|year=2012|publisher=IASS|access-date=13 April 2012|location=New Delhi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501083708/http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/iassn11.pdf|archive-date=2012-05-01|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|24}}

==Abhinavagupta's hermeneutics==
Surekha Dhaleta, in an article in the [[Times of India]], described her as passionate about Kashmir Shaivism, as manifest in the commentaries of its leading commentator [[Abhinavagupta]]. She quotes Dr. Bäumer thus; "There is a lot of misrepresentation and misunderstanding about [[tantra]], which forms the core of Kashmir Shaivism and has been generally misunderstood as black magic or witchcraft. Tantra is fascinating and is very rich and beautiful and related to practical life. It speaks about cosmic energies. The book ''Abhinavagupta's Hermeneutics of the Absolute: Annutraprakriya, an interpretation of his Paratrisika Vivarana'' aims to present tantra and its interpretation in a scholarly way. I would appeal to youngsters to not see Hindu philosophy with dry speculation as it is very rich in knowledge and a great repository of traditions". The book provides extensive translations, commentary and in-depth interpretation of Abhinavgupta's theories.<ref name="TOI-20110327">{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-27/india/29194161_1_iias-kashmir-shaivism-institute-of-advanced-studies|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103071125/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-27/india/29194161_1_iias-kashmir-shaivism-institute-of-advanced-studies|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-03|title=Exploring Kashmiri Shaivism|last=Dhaleta|first=Surekha|date=2011-03-27|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=3 April 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://bettina.baeumer.wissweb.at// Personal web site]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumer, Bettina}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Writers from Salzburg]]
[[Category:Austrian emigrants to India]]
[[Category:Austrian women academics]]
[[Category:Indian women scholars]]
[[Category:Austrian Indologists]]
[[Category:Indian Indologists]]
[[Category:Hindu studies scholars]]
[[Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of India]]
[[Category:Indian people of Austrian descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Varanasi]]
[[Category:University of Salzburg alumni]]
[[Category:LMU Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Vienna]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Salzburg]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Bern]]
[[Category:Harvard Divinity School faculty]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class]]
[[Category:21st-century Austrian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education]]

Bettina Bäumer - Revision history

Shivam Singh at 05:57, 5 May 2026