Michael Madhusudan Datta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
“The poem is rising into splendid popularity. Some say it is better than Milton — but that is all bosh — nothing can be better than Milton; many say it licks Kalidasa; I have no objection to that. I ...
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“The poem is rising into splendid popularity. Some say it is better than Milton — but that is all bosh — nothing can be better than Milton; many say it licks Kalidasa; I have no objection to that. I don't think it impossible to equal Virgil, Kalidasa, and Tasso.” Michael Madhusudan Datta wrote this in a letter to a friend about his verse narrative, The Slaying of Meghanada (1861). The epic, a Bengali version of the Ramayana story in which Ravana, not Rama, is the hero, has become a classic of Indian literature. Datta lived in Bengal at the height of what is frequently called the Bengal Renaissance, a time so labeled for its reinvigoration and reconfiguration of the Hindu past and for the florescence of the literary arts. It was also a period when the Bengali city of Kolkata was a center of world trade-the second city of the British empire — and thus a site of cultural exchange between India and the West. Datta was the perfect embodiment of this time and place. The Slaying of Meghanada is deeply influenced by western epic tradition, and is sprinkled with nods to Homer, Milton, and Dante. Datta's deft intermingling of western and eastern literary traditions brought about a sea change in South Asian literature, and is generally considered to mark the dividing line between pre-modern and modern Bengali literature. Datta's masterpiece is now accessible to readers of English in this translation, which captures both the sense and the spirit of the original. The poem is supplemented by an extensive introduction, notes, and a glossary.Less
“The poem is rising into splendid popularity. Some say it is better than Milton — but that is all bosh — nothing can be better than Milton; many say it licks Kalidasa; I have no objection to that. I don't think it impossible to equal Virgil, Kalidasa, and Tasso.” Michael Madhusudan Datta wrote this in a letter to a friend about his verse narrative, The Slaying of Meghanada (1861). The epic, a Bengali version of the Ramayana story in which Ravana, not Rama, is the hero, has become a classic of Indian literature. Datta lived in Bengal at the height of what is frequently called the Bengal Renaissance, a time so labeled for its reinvigoration and reconfiguration of the Hindu past and for the florescence of the literary arts. It was also a period when the Bengali city of Kolkata was a center of world trade-the second city of the British empire — and thus a site of cultural exchange between India and the West. Datta was the perfect embodiment of this time and place. The Slaying of Meghanada is deeply influenced by western epic tradition, and is sprinkled with nods to Homer, Milton, and Dante. Datta's deft intermingling of western and eastern literary traditions brought about a sea change in South Asian literature, and is generally considered to mark the dividing line between pre-modern and modern Bengali literature. Datta's masterpiece is now accessible to readers of English in this translation, which captures both the sense and the spirit of the original. The poem is supplemented by an extensive introduction, notes, and a glossary.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious ...
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This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious status beyond his role as helper to Rama and Sita, the divine hero and heroine of the ancient Ramayana storytelling tradition. Additionally, it surveys contemporary popular literature and folklore through which Hanuman's mythological biography is celebrated, and describes a range of religious sites and practices that highlight different aspects of his persona. Emphasizing Hanuman's role as a “liminal” deity who combines animal, human, and divine qualities, and as a “middle-class” god within the Hindu pantheon, the book argues that such mediatory status has made Hanuman especially appealing to upwardly-mobile social groups as well as to Hindus of many sectarian persuasions.Less
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious status beyond his role as helper to Rama and Sita, the divine hero and heroine of the ancient Ramayana storytelling tradition. Additionally, it surveys contemporary popular literature and folklore through which Hanuman's mythological biography is celebrated, and describes a range of religious sites and practices that highlight different aspects of his persona. Emphasizing Hanuman's role as a “liminal” deity who combines animal, human, and divine qualities, and as a “middle-class” god within the Hindu pantheon, the book argues that such mediatory status has made Hanuman especially appealing to upwardly-mobile social groups as well as to Hindus of many sectarian persuasions.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been ...
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While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.Less
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents a representative selection of well-known tales and variants that emphasize Hanuman's heroic role both within and outside the conventional Ramayana narrative. Selections include ...
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This chapter presents a representative selection of well-known tales and variants that emphasize Hanuman's heroic role both within and outside the conventional Ramayana narrative. Selections include ancient tales adapted from the Puranas and regional Rama literature, as well as modern folktales and oral narratives. Collectively, these tales add a new installment to the Hindu mythology available in English translation.Less
This chapter presents a representative selection of well-known tales and variants that emphasize Hanuman's heroic role both within and outside the conventional Ramayana narrative. Selections include ancient tales adapted from the Puranas and regional Rama literature, as well as modern folktales and oral narratives. Collectively, these tales add a new installment to the Hindu mythology available in English translation.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its ...
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Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its control. It re-examines the controversial Vrishakapi (“bull-monkey”) hymn in the Rig Veda as well as the emotional portrayal of Hanuman's encounter with Sita in the Sundarakanda of the Ramayana of Valmiki. It then turns to several modern temple cults in which an independent, virginal Mother Goddess is accompanied by a simian bodyguard and familiar, whose close relationship with her is celebrated in legends and folksongs. The final section of the chapter examines lore that questions or problematizes Hanuman's famed celibacy by making him (e.g., in the Rama stories of Jainism) either a lusty adventurer or (in much modern Hindi-language lore) the unwitting “husband” of a submarine wife and father to a mighty son.Less
Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its control. It re-examines the controversial Vrishakapi (“bull-monkey”) hymn in the Rig Veda as well as the emotional portrayal of Hanuman's encounter with Sita in the Sundarakanda of the Ramayana of Valmiki. It then turns to several modern temple cults in which an independent, virginal Mother Goddess is accompanied by a simian bodyguard and familiar, whose close relationship with her is celebrated in legends and folksongs. The final section of the chapter examines lore that questions or problematizes Hanuman's famed celibacy by making him (e.g., in the Rama stories of Jainism) either a lusty adventurer or (in much modern Hindi-language lore) the unwitting “husband” of a submarine wife and father to a mighty son.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, ...
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This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, the Gīta-Rāmāyana was a series of fifty-six songs in the Marathi language set to music in the classical style. Broadcast every week, the program quickly won large audiences, and more recently it has again become popular. The instant success and enduring appeal of the series is analyzed.Less
This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, the Gīta-Rāmāyana was a series of fifty-six songs in the Marathi language set to music in the classical style. Broadcast every week, the program quickly won large audiences, and more recently it has again become popular. The instant success and enduring appeal of the series is analyzed.
Heidi R. M. Pauwels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369908
- eISBN:
- 9780199871322
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book seeks to understand the major mythological role models that mark the moral landscape of young Hindu women. Generally, the goddess Sita, faithful consort of the god Rama, is regarded as the ...
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This book seeks to understand the major mythological role models that mark the moral landscape of young Hindu women. Generally, the goddess Sita, faithful consort of the god Rama, is regarded as the most important positive role model for women. The case of Radha, Krishna's clandestine lover, seems to challenge some of these norms. The book investigates in how far that holds true today. The focus is on the ways the goddesses cope with love. The first part looks at their falling in love, the way their weddings are arranged, and the significance of the wedding ceremonies. The second part looks at their married life, where they are faced with challenges. They come out of purdah to follow their beloved in hardship, and face the threat from “the other woman” and “the other man.” The book takes the case of Sita as main point of reference, but contrasts with comparable episodes from the stories of Radha or Krishna's other consorts. The goddess as role model for the woman in love is just as relevant today as in the past, as is evident from the popularity of the televised mythological series Ramayan and Shri Krishna directed by Ramanand Sagar, and the many allusions to Sita and Radha in popular culture. The television series and popular recent and classical hit‐movies that use Sita and Radha tropes are analyzed through comparison with the ancient Sanskrit sources (Valmiki Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana) and medieval vernacular reworkings by devotional poets (Tulsidas, Surdas, Nanddas and Hariram Vyas).Less
This book seeks to understand the major mythological role models that mark the moral landscape of young Hindu women. Generally, the goddess Sita, faithful consort of the god Rama, is regarded as the most important positive role model for women. The case of Radha, Krishna's clandestine lover, seems to challenge some of these norms. The book investigates in how far that holds true today. The focus is on the ways the goddesses cope with love. The first part looks at their falling in love, the way their weddings are arranged, and the significance of the wedding ceremonies. The second part looks at their married life, where they are faced with challenges. They come out of purdah to follow their beloved in hardship, and face the threat from “the other woman” and “the other man.” The book takes the case of Sita as main point of reference, but contrasts with comparable episodes from the stories of Radha or Krishna's other consorts. The goddess as role model for the woman in love is just as relevant today as in the past, as is evident from the popularity of the televised mythological series Ramayan and Shri Krishna directed by Ramanand Sagar, and the many allusions to Sita and Radha in popular culture. The television series and popular recent and classical hit‐movies that use Sita and Radha tropes are analyzed through comparison with the ancient Sanskrit sources (Valmiki Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana) and medieval vernacular reworkings by devotional poets (Tulsidas, Surdas, Nanddas and Hariram Vyas).
D. Dennis Hudson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195369229
- eISBN:
- 9780199871162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369229.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The chakrabja mandala is described as the foundation of the temple's plan and program. The three sanctums, atop one another, form a three‐dimensional mandala; each sanctum houses a black stone icon ...
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The chakrabja mandala is described as the foundation of the temple's plan and program. The three sanctums, atop one another, form a three‐dimensional mandala; each sanctum houses a black stone icon of Narayana as Supreme Vasudeva: bottom, sitting; middle, reclining; top, standing (though missing, a relief sculpture of it is on the prakara wall). At the very top is a closed, hollow cube representing Vasudeva as the nonempty brahman. On each side of the outer wall of the bottom sanctum is a representation of one of the vyuhas of Vasudeva: Samkarshana (the Plower), Pradyumna (the Pre‐eminently Mighty), Aniruddha (the Unobstructed). Each manifests a pair of Vasudeva's glorious excellences, and is embedded in an interlocking network of stories expressing theological teachings. The mandala's mapping of the two axes of directional space illuminates the structure of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and points to the structure of chronological time.Less
The chakrabja mandala is described as the foundation of the temple's plan and program. The three sanctums, atop one another, form a three‐dimensional mandala; each sanctum houses a black stone icon of Narayana as Supreme Vasudeva: bottom, sitting; middle, reclining; top, standing (though missing, a relief sculpture of it is on the prakara wall). At the very top is a closed, hollow cube representing Vasudeva as the nonempty brahman. On each side of the outer wall of the bottom sanctum is a representation of one of the vyuhas of Vasudeva: Samkarshana (the Plower), Pradyumna (the Pre‐eminently Mighty), Aniruddha (the Unobstructed). Each manifests a pair of Vasudeva's glorious excellences, and is embedded in an interlocking network of stories expressing theological teachings. The mandala's mapping of the two axes of directional space illuminates the structure of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and points to the structure of chronological time.
Eva De Clercq
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380040
- eISBN:
- 9780199869077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380040.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, World Religions
In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a ...
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In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a series of prophetic dreams that the mothers experience upon conception. In general, these dreams and other events surrounding the hero’s time in the womb parallel what happens to him in his life beyond the womb. The chapter further examines some similarities in Hinduism and Buddhism.Less
In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a series of prophetic dreams that the mothers experience upon conception. In general, these dreams and other events surrounding the hero’s time in the womb parallel what happens to him in his life beyond the womb. The chapter further examines some similarities in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Heidi R. M. Pauwels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369908
- eISBN:
- 9780199871322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369908.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The introduction sets up the basic question of the book: when are goddesses as role models potentially empowering or oppressive for women? It situates this question within contemporary feminist ...
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The introduction sets up the basic question of the book: when are goddesses as role models potentially empowering or oppressive for women? It situates this question within contemporary feminist debates. It contrasts the role models of Sita and Radha and counters a monolithic understanding of these goddesses, arguing for a historically nuanced study of how their stories change over time as told in classical Sanskrit sources, the bhakti or devotional tradition, and the popular culture frameworks of television series and movies. Three hypotheses will be tested. First, are bhakti texts in privileging love above duty and celebrating women's subjectivity liberating for women? Second, does the modernity of the medium of television and film result in a more progressive view? Finally, how is the increasing influence of Hindutva in the public sphere reflected on screen? The introduction establishes the methodology of “siting” Sita and Radha, introduces the sources used and outlines the overall organization.Less
The introduction sets up the basic question of the book: when are goddesses as role models potentially empowering or oppressive for women? It situates this question within contemporary feminist debates. It contrasts the role models of Sita and Radha and counters a monolithic understanding of these goddesses, arguing for a historically nuanced study of how their stories change over time as told in classical Sanskrit sources, the bhakti or devotional tradition, and the popular culture frameworks of television series and movies. Three hypotheses will be tested. First, are bhakti texts in privileging love above duty and celebrating women's subjectivity liberating for women? Second, does the modernity of the medium of television and film result in a more progressive view? Finally, how is the increasing influence of Hindutva in the public sphere reflected on screen? The introduction establishes the methodology of “siting” Sita and Radha, introduces the sources used and outlines the overall organization.
Stuart Blackburn
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202054
- eISBN:
- 9780520916807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202054.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in ...
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This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in Kerala state in South India as they perform all night, for as many as ten weeks, during the festival season. The fact that these performances often take place without an audience forms the starting point for its discussion—one which explores not only this important epic tale and its performance, but also the broader theoretical issues of text, interpretation, and audience. The book demonstrates how the performers adapt the narrative and add their own commentary to re-create the story from a folk perspective. At a time when the Rama story is used to mobilize political movements in India, the puppeteers' elaborate recitation and commentary presents this controversial tale from another ethical perspective, one that advocates moral reciprocity and balance. While the study of folk narrative has until now focused on tales, tellers, and tellings, this work explores the importance of audience—absent or otherwise. Its translations of the most dramatic and pivotal sequences of the story enhance our appreciation of this unique example of performance art.Less
This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in Kerala state in South India as they perform all night, for as many as ten weeks, during the festival season. The fact that these performances often take place without an audience forms the starting point for its discussion—one which explores not only this important epic tale and its performance, but also the broader theoretical issues of text, interpretation, and audience. The book demonstrates how the performers adapt the narrative and add their own commentary to re-create the story from a folk perspective. At a time when the Rama story is used to mobilize political movements in India, the puppeteers' elaborate recitation and commentary presents this controversial tale from another ethical perspective, one that advocates moral reciprocity and balance. While the study of folk narrative has until now focused on tales, tellers, and tellings, this work explores the importance of audience—absent or otherwise. Its translations of the most dramatic and pivotal sequences of the story enhance our appreciation of this unique example of performance art.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter examines innovations in both plot construction and gender representation with regard to the kūtiyāţtam theater of Kerala, in which three classical Sanskrit plays feature prominently. All ...
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This chapter examines innovations in both plot construction and gender representation with regard to the kūtiyāţtam theater of Kerala, in which three classical Sanskrit plays feature prominently. All of them depart from Valmiki's text and are tailored to the unique features of the kūtiyāţtam style of acting, which affect the representation of the story. In this style of performance, which can be traced back to the 10th century, characters mimic the mental states and actions of other characters across lines of gender and species (such as Ravana enacting Sītā's moods, or Hanumān enacting Rāma's), whereby gender identities in particular are loosened. It is shown how the kūtiyāţtam performance tradition transforms the plot of the epic and challenges the audience with complex, multiple-identity characters.Less
This chapter examines innovations in both plot construction and gender representation with regard to the kūtiyāţtam theater of Kerala, in which three classical Sanskrit plays feature prominently. All of them depart from Valmiki's text and are tailored to the unique features of the kūtiyāţtam style of acting, which affect the representation of the story. In this style of performance, which can be traced back to the 10th century, characters mimic the mental states and actions of other characters across lines of gender and species (such as Ravana enacting Sītā's moods, or Hanumān enacting Rāma's), whereby gender identities in particular are loosened. It is shown how the kūtiyāţtam performance tradition transforms the plot of the epic and challenges the audience with complex, multiple-identity characters.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter delves into the historical and evolutionary process of the movement of the Rāmāyana story in Indonesia and its religious and political implications. It argues that cross-cultural traffic ...
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This chapter delves into the historical and evolutionary process of the movement of the Rāmāyana story in Indonesia and its religious and political implications. It argues that cross-cultural traffic between Hindu-Javanese social and religious practices, on the one hand, and those of the Muslim immigrants who arrived in the 18th century, on the other, have resulted in a synthesis in which Javanese shadow puppeteers not only find audiences for Hindu myths across religious boundaries but also adapt Mahābhārata puppets to tell Rāmāyana stories. The process subverts the linearity of the Rāmāyana and builds a discourse in which the puppets serve as material objects that encode ideas of character, ethics, behavior, and morals.Less
This chapter delves into the historical and evolutionary process of the movement of the Rāmāyana story in Indonesia and its religious and political implications. It argues that cross-cultural traffic between Hindu-Javanese social and religious practices, on the one hand, and those of the Muslim immigrants who arrived in the 18th century, on the other, have resulted in a synthesis in which Javanese shadow puppeteers not only find audiences for Hindu myths across religious boundaries but also adapt Mahābhārata puppets to tell Rāmāyana stories. The process subverts the linearity of the Rāmāyana and builds a discourse in which the puppets serve as material objects that encode ideas of character, ethics, behavior, and morals.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter inquires into the use of the story in East Timor as a framework within which the nation's troubled and erased history is being reconstructed. The use of the Rāmāyana as a mediating ...
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This chapter inquires into the use of the story in East Timor as a framework within which the nation's troubled and erased history is being reconstructed. The use of the Rāmāyana as a mediating artifact between politics and semiotics is examined. In East Timor, the historical experience of foreign domination and destruction is sought to be recovered, interpreted, and validated within an allegorical framework supplied by the theme of Sītā's abduction by Ravana, which is conveyed through a unique medium, that of embossed shell casings depicting the Rāmāyana episode. It is argued that this ekphrastic entry into sites of domination and contest from which conventional language has been erased has been made possible by the availability of the Rāmāyana as a narrative model.Less
This chapter inquires into the use of the story in East Timor as a framework within which the nation's troubled and erased history is being reconstructed. The use of the Rāmāyana as a mediating artifact between politics and semiotics is examined. In East Timor, the historical experience of foreign domination and destruction is sought to be recovered, interpreted, and validated within an allegorical framework supplied by the theme of Sītā's abduction by Ravana, which is conveyed through a unique medium, that of embossed shell casings depicting the Rāmāyana episode. It is argued that this ekphrastic entry into sites of domination and contest from which conventional language has been erased has been made possible by the availability of the Rāmāyana as a narrative model.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter examins the place of the Rāmāyana in the performing arts and traditions of Thailand and Cambodia, tracing their roots, evolution, and impact on contemporary cultural and social life. ...
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This chapter examins the place of the Rāmāyana in the performing arts and traditions of Thailand and Cambodia, tracing their roots, evolution, and impact on contemporary cultural and social life. While the epic has been the single richest source of inspiration for sculpture, it has a a more dynamic relationship with the indigenous cultures of Southeast Asia in dance dramas. Although these performance forms are deeply rooted in the original Indian narrative, their plot and characters are altered to fit the literary and artistic traditions of Thai-Khmer culture. This has occasionally resulted in deviations from the Indian sources in plot and character, leading to different ethical points of view.Less
This chapter examins the place of the Rāmāyana in the performing arts and traditions of Thailand and Cambodia, tracing their roots, evolution, and impact on contemporary cultural and social life. While the epic has been the single richest source of inspiration for sculpture, it has a a more dynamic relationship with the indigenous cultures of Southeast Asia in dance dramas. Although these performance forms are deeply rooted in the original Indian narrative, their plot and characters are altered to fit the literary and artistic traditions of Thai-Khmer culture. This has occasionally resulted in deviations from the Indian sources in plot and character, leading to different ethical points of view.
Michael Madhusudan Datta
Clinton B. Seely (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents an English translation of the first canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
This chapter presents an English translation of the first canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
Michael Madhusudan Datta
Clinton B. Seely (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents an English translation of the second canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
This chapter presents an English translation of the second canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
Michael Madhusudan Datta
Clinton B. Seely (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents an English translation of the third canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
This chapter presents an English translation of the third canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
Michael Madhusudan Datta
Clinton B. Seely (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents an English translation of the fourth canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
This chapter presents an English translation of the fourth canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
Michael Madhusudan Datta
Clinton B. Seely (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195167993
- eISBN:
- 9780199835805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195167996.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter presents an English translation of the fifth canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.
This chapter presents an English translation of the fifth canto of Michael Madhusudan Datta's epic poem The Slaying of Meghanada.