Pandanus

Pandanus was a biannual peer-reviewed international journal publishing original research papers in English on nature symbolism in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual. It had a regional focus on South Asia but welcomed papers from other regions. The journal was an outcome of the Pandanus project, based at the Institute of South and Central Asian Studies, Seminar of Indian Studies, Philosophical Faculty, Charles University in Prague.

Pandanus volumes started coming out in 1998 on an annual basis as a result of co-operation between three Universities – Charles University in Prague, Milan University and Leipzig University – who set up a tradition of rotating specialist seminars on nature symbolism in Indian literature. In the course of time colleagues from all over Europe and also India have come to take part in these seminars.

Once the volumes had been published for almost ten years, Pandanus became a regular journal from the year 2007. The journal was published by TRITON publishing house in cooperation with the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, Prague. It offered a space for publication of papers dealing with questions concerning nature in all its aspects, its use and function, as reflected in literature, art, myth and ritual. Though the previous volumes were devoted mostly to India, it had become a tradition that other literatures and cultures, and not just those of Asia, are also welcome.

International cooperation towards this goal was further strengthened when on 27 September 2008 four institutions, namely

• Institute of South and Central Asian Studies, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic;
• Department of Indology, Institute of Oriental Philology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland;
• Department of South Asian Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland and
• Department of Studies in Antiquity (Indological Section), State University of Milan, Italy,

signed a Letter of Intent concerning further academic and research cooperation in fields of common interest.