User:Billdove75/Deepak Shimkhada

Deepak Shimkhada was born in 1945 in Darkha, a remote village located approximately 140 miles from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. He spent his childhood in the village, learning the Devanagari alphabet that the Nepali language uses, along with the basic skills of grammar and math. Because there were no schools in Darkha, he was sent to Kathmandu to live with his two brothers for the purpose of having a formal training in English education. He was 10 years old at the time. Because of his advanced age for the Kindergarten, his brothers coached him at home so that he could be enrolled in the 4th grade.

The first school he attended was Lainchour Elementary School. After spending two years at Lainchour Elementary, he moved with his brothers to Chikamungal Tole, an old neighborhood in Kathmandu, which resulted in changing his school. He joined Sitaram High School in Lagan Tole. Because he did not like it there, he transferred to Juddhodaya High School in Chhretrapati from where he graduated in 1960 in the second division.

While at J.P. High, he became interested in drawing and painting and took private lessons in drawing from a master artist, Dev Dhoj Nakarmi, of Jaisidewal. His works were exhibited in various high school programs. Following high school, he continued making drawings.

In the year he graduated, a position of a commercial artist became available in the department of agriculture of then His Majesty’s Government. He was selected in the competition. He worked there for two years and was awarded a Cultural Fellowship by the government of India to study fine arts in India.

With the Cultural Fellowship he went to Baroda, India in 1962 where he earned a B.A. degree in painting and graphics. He then was awarded a senior Cultural Fellowship by the same government to pursue a Master’s degree in art criticism. With two degrees, he returned home to Kathmandu in 1971.

He was invited to work for Tribhuvan University, then Nepal’s only university, to prepare a curriculum for a proposed Institute of Fine Arts. He spent about a year in developing the fine arts curriculum and competed for a Fulbright fellowship administered by the United States Information Services (USIS, now no longer in operation).

With the Fulbright grant under his belt, he came to the United States as a graduate student to study art history. Although he had been offered admission by three prestigious institutions, namely UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he made a case for attending USC because it was where Pratapaditya Pal, then the Senior Curator of South Asian and Himalayan art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was teaching. His goal was to specialize in Nepali and Himalayan art.

In two years he received an M.A. in art history from USC and entered University of Chicago where he was admitted to the Ph.D. program. After spending three years in the program, he left Chicago in 1977 because Prof. Pramod Chandra, who was teaching Indian art there, was inducted by Harvard and there was no one else there to guide him with his research in Nepali art. At Ohio State University, he completed the required course work for the Ph.D. program, received a research grant from the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) in 1979, and went to India and Nepal for six months. In 1980 he returned to Columbus, Ohio and began writing his dissertation.

Meanwhile, a teaching position in Indian art became available at Scripps College in Claremont, California and he did not want pass it up. He applied for the position and was selected. He joined Scripps College as a visiting instructor in 1981. The academic environment, Kathmandu-like landscape and weather captivated him. He now lives in Claremont with his family.

While in Claremont, Shimkhada worked at Claremont Graduate University (then Graduate School) in the administration to support his family, and received a Ph.D. there. He taught courses in South Asian religions at Claremont McKenna College for eight years and retired from there. During the time he lived in Claremont he taught at several colleges and universities in the area, including Rio Hondo College, Mount San Antonio College, California State University at Long Beach, and California State University at Northridge. He also taught at the University of the West and currently is an adjunct professor in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University.

Dr. Shimkhada’s publications cover a wide range of subjects including art history, religion, cultural and religious anthropology, and social commentaries. A list of his publications follows:

JOURNALS 2008	“The Future of Nepal’s “Living” Goddess: Is Her Death Necessary?” Asian Art, (http://www.asianart.com/articles/kumari/index.html) 2007	“Oil Lamps as Expressions of Devotion,” Marg (Mumbai, India), pp.102-103. 2000	“Erotic Body & Exotic Costumes,” Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress on Research in Dance, Claremont, California, pp. 30- 36. 1990	"Wind Horses: Prayer Flags in the Himalayas," Arts of Asia, (Hong Kong) Oct-Nov. 1989	"Narayana: The Sleeping Vishnu" in Arts of Asia (Hong Kong), Vol. 19, No. 1 (January-February), pp. 152-155. 1986	"Interaction between Painting and Architecture in Nepali Art," Himalayan Research Bulletin (New York: Cornell University), Vol. 6, No. 1, Winter, PP. 20-22. 1984	"The Masquerading Sun: A Unique Image from Nepal," Artibus Asiae (Switzerland), University of New York, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 223-230. 1984	"Pratapamalla's Pilgrimage: An Historical Painting from Nepal," Oriental Art (London), Vol. 30, No. 4, Winter pp. 368-70. 1984	"Museum without Walls: Wayside Sculptures in the Kathmandu Valley," Arts of Asia (Hong Kong), Vol. 14, No. 4, July-August, pp. 97-100. 1983	"A Preliminary Study of the Game of Karma in India, Nepal, and Tibet," Artibus Asiae (Switzerland: Institute of Fine Arts, New York), Vol. LXIV, No. 4, pp. 308-322. 1983	"The Sunken Bath of Siddhinarasimha Malla in Patan," Orientations, Vol. 14, No. 7, July, pp. 46-49. 1982	"Measure of Karma: Origin and Iconography of Nagapasa in Nepali Painting," Himalayan Research Bulletin, Cornell University: (Ithaca, New York) Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter, pp. 12-16. 1973	"Nepali Paintings and the Rajput Style," Arts of Asia, Vol. 4, No. 5, September-October, pp. 38-43. 1973	"Mural Paintings in the Hanuman Dhoka Palace," Abstracts of the Conference on Nepal at Claremont, Claremont Graduate School: Claremont, pp. 28-30. 1970	"An Introduction to Nepalese Art," NAFA Art Magazine (Kathmandu, Nepal), Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 23-28.

EXHIBITION CATALOGS 1992 	"The Tibetan Rug: The Nepalese Connection," Woven Jewels: Tibetan Rugs from Southern California Collections Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California. 1982	God, Man, Woman, and Nature in Asian Art, Scripps College: Claremont, CA, (21 pp.) 1973	Exhibition of Nepali Art, Pomona College, Montgomery Art Gallery, Claremont, (24 pages). 1973	USC Collects: A Sampling of Taste (five entries), University of Southern California: (Los Angeles, California).

BOOK CHAPTERS 2010	“Shamanic Healing: A Jhankri in the City,” Health and Religious Rituals in South Asia, edited by Fabrizio M. Ferrari, Routledge Publishers. 2008	“Goma: An Embodiment of the Goddess” The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia (edited by Deepak Shimkhada and Phyllis K. Herman) Cambridge Scholars Press. 2005	“Being in Love with God is not Enough: Social Reform by Basavanna Through Bhakti,” Vijayanagara: Sangama—Confluence of Art and Architecture (ed. Nalini Rao), Originals, Delhi.

BOOKS (Edited) 2008	The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess—Goddess Traditions of Asia (Deepak Shimkhada and Phyllis K. Herman edited), Cambridge Scholars Press, Cambridge, England 1987	Himalayas at the Crossroads: Portrait of a Changing World (edited), Pacific Asia Museum: Pasadena, California 1985	Popular Buddhist Mantras in Sanskrit (co-authored with Shih Pei Lai, Mahayana Vihara Press: Taipei)

BOOK REVIEWS 2010	Goddess Durga: The Power and the Glory in Bulletin of Institute of Asia, December. 2010	Bards and Medium: History, Culture and Politics in the Central Himalayan Kingdoms in Journal of Association for Asian Studies, December. 2005	Ethnic Revival and Religious Turmoil: Identities and Representations in the Himalayas edited by Marie Lecomte-Tilouine and Pascale Dollfus, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003 in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.64, No.4, pp. 1059-1061.

ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS 2006	“Flames of Devotion Burns at UCLA’s Fowler Museum,” India West, November 3, C10. 1994	"A Mongolian Ger in Southern California," Voice of Ulan Bator (Venice, California), Vol. 3, No. 1. 1993	"Review of Tibetan Rug Exhibition," Voice of Ulan Bator (Venice, California), Vol. 2, No. 2. 1992	"How to Read a Mandala Painting?" Voice of Ulan Bator (Venice, California), Vol. 1, No. 1. 1989	"Bodhnath: A Blend of Nepali and Tibetan Cultures," Himalaya (Pasadena, California), Vol. II, No. 6, pp. 3-4. 1989	"Those Dancing Girls of Nepal," Himalaya (Pasadena, California), Vol. II, No. 5, pp. 4-5. 1988	"Folk Dance in Nepal" Folk Dance Scene (Denver, Colorado), Vol. 23, No. 8 (October), pp. 12-14. 1988	"Himalayan Prayer Flags," Himalaya (Pasadena, California), Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 4. 1984	"Light of Asia: Buddha Shakyamuni in Asian Art," (exhibition review) Claremont Courier (Claremont, California), Year 76, No. 41, May, pp. 20-21. 1983	"Nepali Handmade Objects on Exhibit in Los Angeles," The Overseas Times (New Jersey USA), Vol. 6, No. 52, April 29, p. 11. 1983	"Hindu Marriage: An Introduction," Bulletin of America-Nepal Society of California (Los Angeles, California), Vol. 10, No. 3, July, pp. 9-10. 1983	"Eccentricity and Creativity: Jyoti Duwadi's Paintings on Loose Leaves," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), December 12. 1982	"Sri Lanka at Scripps," Collage (Claremont, California), Vol. 10, No. 9, November, pp. 8-9. 1972	"Sharma and His Paintings," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 17. 1972	"Dongol's Predilection for Thangka Paintings," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 15. 1972	"Nepalese Architecture Today," Nepalese Perspective (Kathmandu, Nepal), Vol. 8, No. 7, April, pp. 15-22. 1972	"Two Paintings of Birendra," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), July 7. 1971	"The Paintings of the Monastic Style," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 23. 1971	"The Nepalese Sculpture and Its Contacts," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 17. 1971	"A Brief History of Nepalese Sculpture," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 15. 1971	"Plastic Value in Nepalese Architecture," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), June 4. 1971	"Nepalese Architecture: Its Origin," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), May 31. 1971	"The Last Phase of Nepalese Painting," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), May 27. 1971	"A Brief History of Nepalese Painting," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), May 21. 1971	"The Theory of Dhvani in Allied Arts," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), November, 21. 1970	"View About Art," NAFA Art Magazine (Kathmandu, Nepal), Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 55-56. 1970	"Otto Eglau's Etchings," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), October 31. 1970	"Appraisal of Old Art Forms in Present Society," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), October 28. 1969	"NAC's Exhibition of Paintings," The Rising Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal), May 8.

He also is active in the social arena, having held offices in several organizations, including America-Nepal Society of California, Himalayan Arts Council of Pacific Asia Museum, Indic Foundation, Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, and South Asian Studies Association.