Dear  Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the second update of our material on the Oxford Research Archive, first deposited in January 2016, this update identified as February 2018. We do so in order that it can be available for others to consult even in its present, unfinished state.  It can be accessed at the same location <http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8df9647a-8002-45ff-b37e-7effb669768b> or you can find it via the Bodleian Libraries website, under ORA, by looking for either our surname or its title, "Development and spread of the Rāma narrative (pre-modern)".

There are additions, revisions and corrections to the material throughout.  However, areas which have seen the greatest degree of updating or enlargement are:

o   additions to the dates chart (within the background material folder),

o   additions to the data within 10. visual (India) in the bibliographic inventories,

o   amplification of the ‘Rāmāyaṇa in Buddhist literature’ section of the ‘Development of the Rāmāyaṇa tradition’ survey,

o   inclusion of some unpublished conference papers in ‘miscellaneous drafts and notes’,

o   all categories of the ‘Narrative Elements’, particularly Central and East Asia, and epics (Uttarakāṇḍa).

Because of the nature of our own contacts this message is being sent primarily to other Indologists but, if any of you are aware of colleagues in other fields (for example Southeast Asian languages or visual culture) who might be interested, do please pass the information on to them – and similarly, if anyone has access to suitable academic lists on which it could be posted, we would be grateful for its being sent to them. 

As usual, we should be grateful for any comments from anyone who has used the material.

With all good wishes

John and Mary

John Brockington

Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit, University of Edinburgh
Vice President, International Association of Sanskrit Studies

Mary Brockington
Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Research Fellow, International Association of Sanskrit Studies