Cristine5684 at 21:51, 22 December 2025

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{{Short description|Indian academic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2014}}
[[File:Prof. (Dr.) Madhu Khanna.png|thumb|]]
'''Madhu Khanna''' is an Indian scholar based in [[Delhi]] who works on [[Hindu studies|Indic studies]], [[Religious studies|Religious Studies]] and [[Tantra|Tantric studies]]. She is a well-known expert on the goddess centric [[Shaktism|Śakta]] tantric traditions of [[India]]. At present she serves as the Director and founding trustee of [[Tantra Foundation]] and [[Shrikunja]]. She is also currently serving as a subject expert to the Acarya Shankar Sanskritik Ekta Nyas, set up by the culture department of the Madhya Pradesh government for their Omkareshwar Project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adi Sankaracarya Omkareshvar Project |url=https://statueofoneness.in/about-project |access-date=8 September 2022 |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204090723/https://statueofoneness.in/about-project |url-status=dead }}</ref> At present she also serves in the academic council of Nalanda University<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academic Council |url=https://nalandauniv.edu.in/about-nalanda/governance/ |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=Nalanda University |language=en-US}}</ref> and in the fellowship council of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. She has many research papers as well as several books and exhibition catalogues to her credit. She has contributed to three national projects, as well as several research projects for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ([[Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts|IGNCA]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Website|url= http://ignca.nic.in/|accessdate=28 December 2014}}</ref>

==Education==
Khanna obtained her PhD in [[Indology]]/[[Religious studies|Religious Studies]] from the Faculty of [[Oriental Studies]], [[University of Oxford]], in 1986. Her PhD thesis was on ''The Concept and Liturgy of the [[Sri Yantra|Sricakra]] based on [[Sivananda's Trilogy]]'', under the supervision of Professor [[Alexis Sanderson]], Ethics and Religion, [[All Souls College]], [[University of Oxford]]. Her subject was Esoteric Hinduism, with special reference to Hindu [[Tantra]] and Goddess Traditions. Her research has shown that the origins of [[Sri Vidya]] as a central doctrine of [[Shaktism]] were in [[Kashmir]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}}

==Career==
Khanna has served as a Professor of Religious/ Indic Studies and Director for the Centre for the Study of Comparative Religion and Civilizations, [[Jamia Millia Islamia]], New Delhi. There she taught Hindu Studies, cross-cultural studies in the areas of Religion and Gender, Religion and Ecology and Religion and the Arts. These courses introduced by her were taught for the first time in India at Jamia. She is also credited with organising the first-ever international Religious Studies conference at Jamia. After completing her tenure at Jamia, she was awarded the Tagore National Fellowship by the National Museum, New Delhi.

Prior to this, she has been Associate Professor ([[Religious studies]]/[[Indology|Indic studies]]) at the [[Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts|IGNCA]], where she researched and organised all major, inter-disciplinary research projects and exhibitions. Notably: ''[[Prakriti]]: Man in Harmony with the Elements'', a cross-cultural, inter-disciplinary project; ''[[Ṛta|Rta]]: Cosmic Order & Chaos'', a cross-cultural seminar which explored the multi-faceted Vedic concept of [[Ṛta|Rta]], which pervades all aspects of life, the natural order, the human world, the social and the moral worlds, as well as the arts; and ''Rupa-Pratirupa: Man, Mind & Mask'', to name a few. She conceptualised and executed ''Narivada: Gender, Culture & Civilization Network'' of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Delhi. Narada is a pioneer project that revisions and contextualizes women's cultural resources and knowledge systems in South Asia as an integral element in [[Gender Studies]].

She has also been involved with three research-based, multi-media-exhibition projects of national interest in collaboration with the Sacred World Research Laboratory, New Delhi. The most recent of these was a project commissioned by Ayush, Ministry of Health. The project was titled ''Planet Health: Green Consciousness in [[Ayurveda]] and [[Yoga]], A Multimedia Exhibit'' (2010). For this project in her capacity as Honorary Director for Content Research, Documentation and Production, she produced 150 documentary videos on Indian health heritage, namely Ayurveda and yoga. The project involved interviews with scholars, masters of yoga and experts in Ayurveda. For the ''[[Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum]] Exhibit'' (2002), she produced the content research on the life and philosophy of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. The videos are exhibited in 51 interactive installations permanently housed in the memorial [[Gandhi Smriti]], [[Birla House]], New Delhi, where the Mahatma was assassinated. The Mahavira Mahatma Award was conferred upon Madhu Khanna by the Times Foundation, New Delhi, in 2005 for her work on this project. ''The Crossing Project: Living, Dying and Transformation in Benaras'' (2002) was sponsored by Xerox PARC, [[Palo Alto Research Center]]. She was conferred the Excellence in Research certificate by Xerox PARC for this project. ''The Crossing Project'' won the following awards: Winner Prix Arts Electronica, [[Linz]], Austria, 2002; Winner ''[[ID Magazine]]'' Gold Prize, Interactive Review, New York, 2002; Jury's Recommendation, CG Arts Festival, Japan, 2002. Currently, she is the President and Founding Member of the [[Tantra Foundation]] in New Delhi. She recently initiated an ecological project, ''Shri Kunja – A Rural Centre for Eco Heritage'' in Bamunara village, [[Burdwan]], West Bengal, to create a [[herbarium]] of traditional plants based on ancient Hindu scriptures to promote programmes for ecological sustainability.

==Awards==
* 2005: Mahavir Mahatma Award conferred by Times Foundation, New Delhi, for the ''Eternal Gandhi'' Multimedia Museum Exhibit at the Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi (joint award with [[Ranjit Makkuni]], Sacred World Research Laboratory).
* 2002: Excellence in Research certificate by Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, for ''The Crossing Project: Living, Dying and Transformation in Benaras''
* 2000 Awarded Sarasvati Ratna Abhisekha, Bharat Gaurava Sammana, by Samaratha Siksha Samiti, Delhi for contribution to Tantra-studies.
* 1991–1993: The [[Homi J. Bhabha|Homi Bhabha]] Fellowship Award for advanced research by the Homi Bhabha Fellowships Council, [[Bombay]]
* 1980-1982 Inlaks Foundation Award for doctoral research in Sanskrit Studies at the Oxford University.

==Selected works==
===Books===
* ''The Sricakra as Goddess Tripurasundari: History, Symbol & Ritual''. Madhu Khanna. Forthcoming 2023–2024.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
* Tantra on the Edge: Inspirations and Experiments in Twentieth-Century Indian Art. Madhu Khanna. Published by Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2022. {{ISBN|978-93-81217-91-7}}
* [https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5 Encyclopaedia of Indian religion: Hinduism and Tribal Religions]. Edited by Jeffery Long, Rita D Sherma, Pankaj Jain and Madhu Khanna. Published by Springer Nature B.V. 2022. {{ISBN| 978-94-024-1187-4}}
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Saktapramodah-Nandan-Singh-Madhu-Khanna/dp/8124606897 Saktapramodah of Deva Nandan Singh]''. Edited with introduction in English by Madhu Khanna. Published in collaboration with Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Tantra Foundation. D.K. Printworld, New Delhi, 2013. {{ISBN|978-81-246-0689-6}}.
* ''Asian Perspectives on the World’s Religions after 11 September''. Arvind Sharma and Madhu Khanna (Editors). Praeger, ABC-CLIO, LLC, California, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-313-37896-6}}, E {{ISBN|978-0-313-37897-3}}.
* [https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Minor-Upanisads-English-Khanna/dp/B09FQBTK8S ''Thirty Minor Upanisadas''.] Translated by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar. Edited by Madhu Khanna. Tantra Foundation, New Delhi, 2011. {{ISBN|81208-1565-3}}.
* ''The Subtle Body: An Illuminated Tantric Scroll''. Sarabhai Foundation, Ahmedabad, 2005. {{ISBN|8186980261}}.
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Yantra-Tantric-Symbol-Cosmic-Unity/dp/0500272344/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GREZBGJYZIAU&keywords=madhu+khanna&qid=1662556691&s=books&sprefix=madhu+khan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C395&sr=1-1 Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity]. Madhu Khanna''. Thames and Hudson, 1994. Inner Traditions, 1997 (Reprint), 2003 (Reprint). {{ISBN|978-0-89281-132-8}}. German edition: ''Yantra: Das Grosse Yantra-Buch – Symbol der Kosmischen Einheit'', Aurum Verlag, Freiburg, 1980. {{ISBN|978-3-591-08138-2}}. Italian edition: ''Yanta: Il Simbolo Tantrico dell'Unita Cosmica'', Edizioni Mediterranee, Milan, 2002. {{ISBN|88-272-1472-0}}.
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Rta-Cosmic-Order-Madhu-Khanna/dp/8124602522/ref=sr_1_5?crid=GREZBGJYZIAU&keywords=madhu+khanna&qid=1662556691&s=books&sprefix=madhu+khan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C395&sr=1-5 Rta, The Cosmic Order]''. Edited by Madhu Khanna. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts & D.K. Printworld, New Delhi, 2004. {{ISBN|8124602522}}.
* ''Art, the Integral Vision: A Volume of Essays in Felicitation of Kapila Vatsyayan''. Kapila Vatsyayan, Baidyanath Saraswati, S C Malik, & Madhu Khanna. DK Printworld. 1995.
* [https://www.amazon.com/Tantric-Way-Art-Science-Ritual/dp/0500270880/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GREZBGJYZIAU&keywords=madhu+khanna&qid=1662556691&s=books&sprefix=madhu+khan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C395&sr=1-3 ''The Tantric Way: Art, Science, Ritual. Ajit Mookerjee & Madhu Khanna''.] Thames and Hudson, 1977 (Reprint). 1989 (Reprint), 1993 (Reprint), 1994 (Reprint), 1996 (Reprint). {{ISBN|0-500-27088-0}}. French edition: ''La voie du Tantra: Art, Science, Rituel''. Seuil, Paris, 1978; 2004 (Reprint). German edition: Die Welt des Tantra in Bild und Deutung. Otto Wilehelm Berth Verlag, Munich, 1978; 1987 (Reprint). {{ISBN|978-3-502-65471-1}}. Danish edition: Forlaget Rhodes, Copenhagen, 1979. {{ISBN|87-74-96-6618}}.

=== Exhibition catalogues ===
* ''The Crossing Project: Living, Dying and Transformation in Banaras''. Co-author. Sacred World Foundation, New Delhi and San Francisco, 2002.
* ''An Exhibition on Tantra Art Collection'' by Shinsocha, Tokyo. Contributor.
* ''Man & Mask: Rupa-Pratirupa: An Exhibition from the IGNCA Collection of Masks''. Editor. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1998.
* ''Rta-Ritu: Cosmic Order and Cycle of Seasons''. Editor. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1996.
* ''Prakriti: Man in Harmony with the Elements''. Editor. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1994.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [http://ignca.nic.in/mkhn0001.htm Articles by Madhu Khanna] IGNCA
* [https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/tantra-on-the-edges-aesthetic-and-esoteric/2593086/ Tantra on the Edge review by Dr. Bibek Debroy]

==External links==
* [http://tantralibrary.com/ Tantra Foundation Library, website]
* https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-news-and-events/news/tantra-scholar-madhu-khanna-at-ciis {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323163749/https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-news-and-events/news/tantra-scholar-madhu-khanna-at-ciis |date=23 March 2023 }}

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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian women historians]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Indian women scholars]]
[[Category:Indian art historians]]
[[Category:Indian historians of religion]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Jamia Millia Islamia]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Hindu studies scholars]]
[[Category:Scholars from Delhi]]
[[Category:Educators from Delhi]]
[[Category:Women educators from Delhi]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]

Madhu Khanna - Revision history

Cristine5684 at 21:51, 22 December 2025