Prof.Paul Hockings – the man who made Badagas known to the world

Prof Paul Hockings is the Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, USA. He is also the Adjunct Curator of Anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History and Editor-in-Chief of ‘Visual Anthropology’.
Prof Hockings has been researching the Nilgiris, particularly the Badagas, since 1962 resulting in a number of authoritative publications including Encyclopaedia of the Nilgiri Hills, So Long a Saga: Badaga Social History, Badaga-English Dictionary, Counsel from the Ancients: A Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses, Blue Mountains: The Ethnology and Bio-geography of a South Indian Region and Blue Mountains Revisited: Cultural Studies on the Nilgiri Hills.

Prof. Hocking’s massive contribution has paved the way for the Nilgiri studies being classified today as Nilgiriology.

The Nilgiri Documentation Centre will honour Prof Hockings, in absentia, with the The Nilgiris Lifetime Achievement Award 2015 on February 23 when Prof Hockings turns 80.

The function will be at Lawley Institute at 11-30am on February 23 at Ooty.

Dharmalingam Venugopal

[Honorary Director, Nilgiri Documentation Centre]