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ID: 168812

Explorations in the Transmission of the Ramayana in Sri Lanka / Henry, Justin W

Henry, Justin W	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This essay explores the identification of the island of Sri Lanka with the ‘Lankapura’ of Ramayana literary fame, tracing the transmission of the mythical geography of the epic from late medieval South India to Sri Lankan Tamil temple literature. The invading Cholas of the tenth century were the first to identify Sri Lanka as the ‘Lanka’ of the Ramayana, a geographical equivalence maintained by the Arya Cakravarti rulers who dubbed themselves ‘guardians of Rama’s bridge’ (cētu kāvalan). I highlight the uniquely sympathetic treatment of Ravana by the Hindus of eastern Sri Lanka, and explore the likelihood that Tamil impressions of Ravana impacted his appearance in Sinhala Buddhist literature from the fifteenth century onwards.

Key Words

Sri Lanka ; Puranas ; Theravada Buddhism ; Ramayana ; Saivism ; Tamil Literature ;
Sinhala Literature

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ID: 116077

Re-inscribing religion as nation: Naveenar-Caivar (Modern Saivites) and the Dravidian movement / Vaitheespara, Ravi

Vaitheespara, Ravi	Journal Article
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2012.

Summary/Abstract

The powerful shadow cast by the Dravidian movement on its very scholarship has meant that the focus of scholarly attention has been on the recent, institutional and secular history of the movement, with scant attention paid to its earlier religious roots. While the important role played by the pioneer Neo-Saivite elites has been noted, there have been few attempts to understand or theorise either the significance of this Neo-Saivite factor or the strategies and methods through which the Neo-Saivite revivalists fashioned and articulated a form of non-Brahmin Tamil nationalism. This paper seeks to address this lacuna by examining the largely untapped accounts of the Neo-Saivite movement written by orthodox Saivite contemporaries, who were highly critical of the movement and sought to expose both its deviation from 'true' Saivism and its political agenda. It is these criticisms of the Neo-Saivites that best illuminate how Saivism was deployed for a Dravidian and non-Brahmin Tamil nationalist project. The paper also argues that it is through a critical study of the Neo-Saivite movement that we can adequately address the question of the social base of the Dravidian movement, which has long continued to haunt its scholarship.

Key Words

Caste ; Religion ; India ; Tamil Nadu ; Tamil Nationalism ; Saivism ;
Periyar ; Dravidian Movement

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