Dear colleagues,

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of Professor Mandakranta Bose, Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Senior Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, on September 10, 2026.

Professor Bose was a distinguished scholar of Sanskrit and South Asian religions whose wide-ranging scholarship encompassed the Sanskrit textual traditions of the performing arts, Sanskrit literature, the Rāmāyaṇa, Hindu traditions, and gender studies. She had a lifelong love of Indian classical dance and was herself an accomplished dancer. Trained in Sanskrit and Hindu religious texts in Calcutta, comparative literature in Vancouver, and Sanskrit textual studies at Oxford, she taught religious and gender studies at UBC and served as Director of its Centre for India and South Asia Research. She was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain. 

On a personal note, I had the privilege of knowing Professor Bose at UBC, and I will always remember her warmth, her kindness, and our long conversations over chā. Manda mashi, you'll be dearly missed.

My deepest condolences to Professor Bose’s family, students, colleagues, and all those who knew and learned from her.

Shubham

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