THE MANDALA OF MIND AND METAPHOR: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF CHARU SHEEL SINGH'S POETIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL VISION

This paper gives an integrative overview of the literary, critical, and philosophical contributions of an influential voice in Indian English literature, Charu Sheel Singh. Singh's work spans multiple disciplines—poetry, literary criticism, comparative aesthetics, and Indian philosophy—each reflecting a unified vision grounded in Indian metaphysical traditions and in dialogue with global theory. Singh's oeuvre, anchored in his magnum opus Kashi: A Mandala Poem, plumbs the depths of sacred geography, mythic memory, consciousness, language, and being. It explores the kinds of spaces—inner, outer, and sacred—that human beings inhabit. The kinds that poets and workers of the Word can help to rethink, reconfigure, recover, and reclaim, if need be. In short, this paper offers an overview of Prof. Singh's intellectual and poetic output and what can be said to be a mandalic model of thought where different kinds of knowledge radiate from a shared, or if you prefer, a held ontological center. Keywords: Charu Sheel Singh, Indian English poetry, literary theory, sacred geography, comparative aesthetics, Kashmir Shaivism, rasa, dhvani, mandala, consciousness, Indian Knowledge Systems.