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The 15th Annual Symposium of the Forum on Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality will be held in Varanasi, India, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT BHU). The symposium will be hosted by the Department of Architecture, Planning, and Design, IIT BHU, from Jan. 8-11, 2026. Varanasi, as the spiritual capital of India and one of the oldest living cities in the world, is the perfect venue for exploring the connection between places, primeval myths, and living traditions. Varanasi, as an ancient seat of learning, will be a stimulating environment for thought-provoking presentations and dialogues. The symposium’s venue is the century-old historic IIT BHU campus, in proximity to the Ganga Riverfront and its majestic temples and palaces. We anticipate ACSF 15 to be an exciting and enriching event with participants from across the globe presenting their work on the theme of “Myths and Placemaking” and related topics.
Established in 2007, the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum provides an international forum for scholarship, education, practice, and advocacy regarding the cultural and spiritual significance of the built environment. ACSF believes that the design and experience of the built environment can assist the spiritual development of humanity in service of addressing the world’s most pressing issues.
Myths are symbolic representations of shared human experiences and shape collective beliefs and values. As archetypal stories providing insights into the human condition, they are key to ‘finding’ places where there are possibilities of encounters with the sacred in an otherwise profane realm. As the religious historian Mircea Eliade (1959) points out understanding the connection between places and myths is key to exploring the phenomenology of the sacred.[1] The symposium will explore the topic of “Myths and Placemaking” by inviting papers on places as settings and protagonists in storytelling traditions across the world. How are places found in origin stories and in contemporary myths? How do place stories lead to place-making, i.e., symbolic appropriation and reclamation? How does place-making change the place narrative? How are physicality and spirituality of places experienced, individually and collectively? How does sacred architecture commemorate places and invite place-making? How can our fast-paced and future-oriented civilization utilize such ancient wisdom?
[1] Mircea Eliade. The Sacred and the Profane. New York: Harvest Books, 1959.
India, with an incredible storytelling tradition, has a rich corpus of myths grounded in its hills, rivers, and forests. Place-based myths hold collective memories of gods, heroes, and sages told and retold to countless generations. Places hold the key to understanding the continuum of myth into history. Cultural practices enact myths reproducing collective memories. The public life of pilgrim cities, especially those on banks of holy rivers is centered around this living cultural heritage. The ACSF 15 symposium would be an excellent opportunity to experience this deep-seated religiosity, and cultural traditions tied to place-making first-hand and to think about eco-spirituality as a guiding framework for meeting current challenges of climate change.
Varanasi on the banks of the River Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, is reputedly to be the oldest living city in the Indian subcontinent. Here, the holy River Ganga takes a northward turn, describing a crescent sweep of ghats (steps and landings), over which rise the impressive temple spires and palace towers of historic Varanasi. Myths structure the worldview of pilgrims and resident communities and are enacted in place-making in everyday life. The unswerving belief of millions of devotees in the purity of the Ganga and its ability to cleanse physical and moral dirt stems from its divine and exalted status in the Hindu corpus of myths. The goddess Ganga has been the subject of artistic and literary representations through the ages, celebrating her beauty, grace, and prowess. A rich visual culture emerged over time around the iconography of Ganga. Songs and ballads describe her munificence, plenitude, and power to cleanse and purify. The three-mile-long ghats on the Ganga’s banks date back to the 13th c where the narrow streets of the old city ended, leading residents, pilgrims, and tourists to the river. The ghats are public commons, ritual spaces, and sites of worship and cremation. Varanasi represents extraordinary cultural heritage, and its temples and ghats attract large numbers of pilgrims and tourists from India and abroad.
ACSF 15 is organized in collaboration with the Department of Architecture, Planning, and Design, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University). IIT (BHU), established in 1919, is a premier public technical university in India. The Architecture, Planning, and Design Department has been newly established to attract bright students nationwide; one of the primary goals is to educate young designers to connect the city’s rich past with the future.
ACSF 15 will be held at the Dev and Vardhana Goswami Lecture Hall Complex, with excellent audio-visual facilities and a seating capacity of around 300. It is within 10 minutes walking distance from the Guest House where a set of rooms will be reserved for symposium participants. The Ganga ghats are a 20-minute drive on tuk-tuk.
Shonaleeka Kaul
Shonaleeka Kaul is a cultural historian of early India specializing in Sanskrit literature. She is a Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and has also been the Malathy Singh Distinguished Lecturer in South Asian Studies at Yale University, USA; the Jan Gonda Fellow in Indology at Leiden University, The Netherlands; and a Visiting Professor of History at Heidelberg University, Germany. She has published 9 books, 5 of which relate in creative and path-breaking ways to cultural geography, myth, architecture, and Indic strategies of place-making. These are Imagining the Urban: Sanskrit and the City in Early India (2010), The Making of Early Kashmir: Landscape and Identity in the Rajatarangini (2018), Eloquent Spaces: Meaning and Community in Early Indian Architecture (2019), Myths and Places: New Perspectives in Indian Cultural Geography (2023), and Bharata before the British and Other Essays: Towards a New Indology (2024). She has been invited to speak widely around India and the world. For more information, go to: https://jnu.academia.edu/Shonaleekakaul
Sameep Padora
Sameep Padora is the principal architect and founder of the Mumbai-based studio sP+a (Sameep Padora & Associates), as well as the director of sPare, a research initiative focused on urbanization and architecture in India. He is an award-winning architect who established his firm in 2007, and his work is recognized for its contextually sensitive and collaborative approach, often exploring the intersection of vernacular architecture and modern design techniques. Padora also serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT University. For more information, go to: https://sp-arc.net
Chitra Vishwanath
Chitra Vishwanath is the founder, principal architect, and managing director of Biome Environmental Solutions, an internationally recognized, multidisciplinary firm that has been working on ecological architecture and intelligent water and sanitation designs since 1990. Through their work, they aim to demonstrate that ecological design can become mainstream and relevant across various contexts, including different geographies, typologies, and scales. Their efforts are particularly focused on urban settings, using materials and systems to develop a language of action that isn’t limited by preconceptions of what defines architecture. For more information, go to: https://www.biome-solutions.com/
April 22, 2025 ………………. Call for papers and participation
July 1, 2025…………..………. Abstract Submission deadline
July 1—Aug 14, 2025…..… Peer Review Process
September 1, 2025………. Approval/Rejection of abstracts (authors contacted)
September 21, 2025.…… Deadline to confirm author participation
November 8, 2025……… Room Reservation deadline for Authors (payment due) —after this date, rooms will be open to non-author attendees.
November 8, 2025………… Revised abstract Submission
November 15, 2025…….. Foreigners start process to get e-Visas to enter India (this is a quick process).
January 8-11, 2026……..….…. ACSF 15 Symposium in Varanasi
To view this year’s program, please click here.
To view this year’s participants, please click here.
To view an archive of this year’s papers and works, please click here.
Panel 1: Myths and Placemaking in Varanasi
Chair: Rana P.B. Singh
Panelists: Amita Sinha, Rabi Narayan, Indra Kumar Singh, E. V. S. Kiran Kumar Donthu, Harsimran Kaur, and Akhil Nawani
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Amita Sinha, Rabi Narayan, Indra Kumar Singh, E. V. S. Kiran Kumar Donthu, Harsimran Kaur, and Akhil Nawani |
Session 1: Placemaking and Pilgrimage
Moderator: Prem Chandavarkar
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Kiran Shinde |
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Mahesh Gogate and Naresh Chhatwani |
Place as Palimpsest: Textual and Spatial Imprints of Sacred Varanasi |
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Santosh Kumar |
Session 2: Arts of Places
Moderator: Yoko Kawai
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Olga Cuxart Oriol |
Material Mythologies and Ritual Space: Sculptural Practices in Contemporary Place-Making |
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Pooja Mahathi Vajjha |
Session 3: Festivals, Placemaking, Myth, Sacredness, the City and Architecture
Moderator: Vinita Chandra
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Anagha Saralaya and Raghuram S K |
Saptasthanam Kannadi Pallakku’ – A Temporal Manifestation of the Sacred amidst the Perpetual Profane |
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Suparna Sircar and Santosh Kumar |
From Nawabi Legends to Neighbourhood Commons: Bada Mangal’s Role in Crafting Inclusive Public Spaces |
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Shubhi Sonal and Roshini Muralidhara |
Festivals Behind Gates: Placemaking Strategies in Bengaluru’s Privatized Festivalscapes |
Session 4: Phenomenology, Empirical Means, and Sacred Space
Moderator: Julio Bermudez
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Alessia Frescura and Pyoung-Jik Lee |
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Yoko Kawai Kurimoto |
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Navajyothi Mahenderkar Subhedar |
Sacred Thresholds: Myth, Architecture, and Transitional Spaces in the Ritual Landscape of Ujjain |
Session 5: Cosmology, Ecology, Site, and Myth
Moderator: Kiran Shinde
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Radhika Soni |
Vāstu Śāstra: Ritual, Cosmic Ecology, and the Myth of Resilient Placemaking |
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Nidhi Dhiraj |
Session 6: Narrative, Theory, and Design
Moderator: Julio Bermudez
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Prem Chandavarkar |
Yama’s Chariot: Design Practice and the Transcendental Unseen |
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Isabel Potworowski |
Orientation and Place in Christian Sacred Architecture: Between Place-boundedness and Place-lessness |
Session 7: Lindsay Jones Memorial Research Fund Works
Moderator: Tom Barrie
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Rebekah Coffman and Ashley Kochiss Rodriguez |
Religious Architectural Heritage, Adaptive Reuse, and Sustainability in the Digital Age |
Panel 2: Traditional Water Systems as Sacred Placemaking
Panelists: Afreen Fatima and Ajay Khare
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Afreen Fatima and Ajay Khare |
Ritual, Myth, and the Architecture of Return: Traditional Water Systems as Sacred Placemaking. |
Session 8: Change + Intersections
Moderator: Jyoti Pandey Sharma
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Clarisse Figueiredo de Queiroz |
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Julia Dalalba |
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Nirmal Kulkarni |
Sacred Landscapes and Myths of Place: Negotiating Intersectionality in Colonial Goa |
Session 9: Sacred Waters
Moderator: Chander Chawla
Session 10: Death + Nature
Moderator: Tom Barrie
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Pascaline Thiollière |
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Kiran Keswani |
Nature as Threshold: Sacred spaces and Everyday Life in Bengaluru |
Deadline for submissions was July 1st. Proposals are no longer accepted.
The weather in Varanasi during January is pleasant with daytime temperatures around 22 degrees C and night temperatures dropping down to 8 degrees C. Mornings are usually foggy and rains are infrequent in this month. Sunrise is around 7:10 am and sunset around 5:35 pm Indian Standard Time. Alcohol and meat are off-limits. For international visitors, jetlag can happen, and it is advisable to come the day before symposium begins. Varanasi, especially the ghats offers many subjects for sketching and photography. Participants are encouraged to take walks on the riverfront early in morning to do that. Sketches can be displayed on the last day of the symposium venue and participants can exchange stories about places as captured in their drawings and photographs.
Airfare round trip from Chicago/New York, USA to New Delhi, India $1,800
Airfare round trip from London, UK to New Delhi, India $1,100
Airfare round trip New Delhi-Varanasi $175
NOTE: non-Indian nationals may need to get VISAS to enter India. However, this is a relatively quick and inexpensive process in most cases.
Room reservations will be made at IIT BHU Guest House ($45 per night; breakfast+dinner $5 per day) within walking distance of Lecture Hall where the symposium will be held. Priority will be given to authors (first) and registered participants (second).
Symposium participants and attendees may make their own hotel reservations. Recommended hotels located close to IIT BHU Campus and Assi Ghat include Crescent Villa, Diamond Hotel, and Hotel Ganges View.
A half-day trip to Sarnath, the site of Buddha’s first sermon and on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites will be organized on the day following the symposium (January 12, 2026). It consists of an archaeological park containing stupas and remains of monasteries, historic Sarangnath Temple and a museum. Sarnath also has many new monasteries and temples built by other countries in Asia where Buddhism is widely practiced, some worth a visit because of their architectural character and statuary.
Sarnath field trip covers food, transportation, and entry fees: USD 40
The registration fees are proposed to be on a sliding scale:
Participation fees | Indian Nationals | International |
Delegates from Industries | USD 120 | USD 400 |
Faculty & Professionals | USD 80 | USD 300 |
Research Scholars and Students | USD 40 | USD 100 |
Accompanying Persons | USD 40 | USD 100 |
Individuals interested in attending must request the necessary access information for the registration portal from Julio Bermudez via email at: bermudez@acsforum.org
To register for this year’s Symposia, please fill out our Google Form here.
Julio Bermudez (Co-chair/Co-convener) — ACSF, The United States of America.
email: bermudez@acsforum.org
Amita Sinha (Co-chair/Co-convener) — Department of Architecture, Planning,and Design, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.
email: amitasinha12@hotmail.com
Rabi Narayan Mohanty (Co-chair/Co-convener)— Head, Department of Architecture, Planning, and Design, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.
Amit Patra (Patron) — Director, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.
Faculties of the Department of Architecture, Planning, and Design (Members of the Conference Committee) — IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.
Registration
**This symposium has already taken place. Registrations are no longer accepted. The following is for archival purposes only.
For registration, this is a first come, first serve opportunity with limited room, we are able to accommodate approximately 30 more registrations for participants. The Symposium fee is a flat rate of $425 USD, and lodging is not included. This will provide for all symposium activities during the day, and all meals, but registrants are asked to book their lodging independently of symposium registration (either at Kalyon hotel or nearby).
Please use the following forms to register for the 2024 ACSF 14 in Istanbul. Once you have filled out the forms, use the link on the confirmation page to pay the required fee and costs.
The symposium will begin Wednesday evening (June 5th) and end on Sunday evening (June 9th) with drinks and dinner. The symposium fee of $425 covers access to ALL conference functions including workshops (Thur & Fri), four lunches, five dinners including dinner outside the hotel, breakout session snacks and drinks, five social hour drinks and wine for dinner, Old City Sacred Sites Tour on Sunday with lunch, and ACSF fee ($25).
If you have dietary needs/choices, please fill out the appropriate form accordingly.
Refunds policy for cancellations:
The registration process starts with your review and acceptance of the ACSF Symposium Code of conduct.
Any questions? Please email the organizing team acsf14Istanbul@gmail.com
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ACSF Symposium Code of Conduct & Ethics of Fellowship
We welcome all participants in a spirit of curiosity, respect, and compassion. Our symposia are safe and supportive places where diverse views and personal boundaries are mutually respected. Read the ACSF Symposia Code of Conduct and Ethics of Fellowship for further information.
