<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Human Resource Team,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am writing to express my interest in the position of Assistant Professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities at NICMAR. My academic training and research engage with the historical study of religion, space, and architecture in early medieval India (c. 600&ndash;1300 CE), with particular emphasis on coastal Odisha. I believe that my interdisciplinary approach to religious geography and the built environment aligns meaningfully with the institute&rsquo;s academic vision and objectives.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">My doctoral research at IIT Mandi examines the geography of religion in early medieval coastal Odisha. The study identifies three prominent religious institutions&mdash;brāhmaṇa settlements, Buddhist monasteries, and Āgamic temples&mdash;and maps their spatial distribution using epigraphical, archaeological, and literary sources, including&nbsp;<em>mahātmya</em>&nbsp;literature.&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The physical mapping of these institutions encouraged me to&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">revisit and reevaluate</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp;some existing theories in religious geography and sacred landscapes in South Asia.&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp;The thesis challenges the notion of sacred space, which is often characterized by ideas such as poly-religious and mono-religious landscapes. It presents an alternative to understanding the historical geography of religion in South Asia.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fieldwork has been central to my research methodology. I conducted two years of extensive fieldwork across the coastal districts of Odisha to document and analyze the built environments of religious sites, including Buddhist establishments and temple complexes. I examined their art, architectural forms, spatial distribution, and evolving construction techniques. My research includes a detailed architectural study of more than 300 temples, analyzing changes in building technology, structural systems, and aesthetic programs. This empirical work is further informed by classical architectural treatises such as the&nbsp;<em>Vāstuśāstra</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Śilpaśāstra</em>, allowing me to situate material environment within larger practices of knowledge production.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">NICMAR&rsquo;s focus on architecture, civil engineering, urban spaces, and the study of built environments strongly resonates with my scholarly interests. Although my work is based on the premodern period, specifically the early medieval period (600-1200 CE), its emphasis on spatial analysis, construction practices, and environmental adaptation aligns closely with NICMAR&rsquo;s interdisciplinary engagement with space and structure. I am particularly interested in contributing historical perspectives to contemporary conversations on sustainable built environments and indigenous knowledge systems.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">As a teacher, I am committed to fostering student engagement, critical thinking, and contextual awareness. I would be keen to offer courses such as&nbsp;<em>History of Architecture in Premodern South Asia</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>History of Technology in India</em>. Additionally, I aim to design courses engaging with Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), especially in relation to architectural theory and sustainable practices embedded in premodern construction traditions. My goal is to help students understand the dynamic relationship between human societies and the built environment across time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; line-height: 32px; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I believe that NICMAR provides an intellectually vibrant space where I can further develop my research and teaching while contributing to meaningful dialogues between the humanities and the study of the built environment.</span></p>