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| 1 |
ID:
136511
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| Summary/Abstract |
Sustainable development as a concept owes a lot to the philosophical orientation originating in India. At its core, sustainable development is closely related to the idea of spirituality which intricately binds human existence and survival to other life forms. India with its very rich cultural heritage advocating tolerance, non-violence and inclusion suits very well to the idea of sustainability. The core ideal of Hindu religion and the diverse manifestation of man-nature collaborations in the form of sacred grooves are the traditional mechanisms enforced through the instrument of religion. Such traditional institutions are very strong pillars of sustainable development. The philosophy of sama darshana in Gita and Gandhi’s conceptualization of swaraj further strengthen the value of sustainability by identifying development which is humane, grounded in appreciation of locally available resources, simple in operation and above all sustainable.
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| 2 |
ID:
135727
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| Summary/Abstract |
Kashmir Shaivism, or the non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir as many scholars now prefer to call it, is a system of philosophy and theology rooted in the Tantric world view. What distinguishes it, is its idealistic outlook and monistic vision that conceives of the Ultimate Reality in terms of pure and undifferentiated consciousness vibrating in every atom of the universe. Describing consciousness as an all-pervasive principle that forms the ground and substratum of all existent things, Kashmir Shaivism regards the phenomenal world, with all its diversity, as its manifestation or expression. Man, according to this system of thought, is a contracted or congealed form of Parama Shiva or universal consciousness, the one and the only Reality. Realization of one’s true nature and self as one with Shiva liberates one from the tyranny of finitude. Rejecting the otherness of God, Kashmir Shaivism asserts that there is nothing that exists apart from or outside absolute consciousness.
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| 3 |
ID:
135725
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| Summary/Abstract |
Shaivism is one of the oldest belief systems in the world. The remnants as well as existing temples in Thailand, Laos, Champa (Vietnam) Indonesia, China, Korea, Japan Central Asia and Tibet speak of the spread of Shaivism in the far corners of the world, from its origin in India. In India, the Shaiva tradition continues uninterruptedly. The twelve Jyotirlinga’s situated at different centres from Kashmir to Rameshwaram stand to prove its widespread existence. The names of the regions like Telegu region;1 Trissur2 in Kerala come from names of Shiva, and Shiva temples exist in huge numbers in the map of India which also includes Nepal. Its form and traditions may though differ from region to region. The most common image is the one described in Sangam Literature, a deity with three eyes, blue throat, and matted hair decorated with goddess Ganga and a crescent moon. The supreme one with a divine consort.
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| 4 |
ID:
135717
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Asiatic cultural continuum, with India at the centre of the gravity, is a fact yet to be discovered and discoursed fully. There has been multi-directional diffusion of the cultural traits and the belief systems. Some religious and socio-cultural traits, such as ancestor worships, belief in life after death, rebirth, re-incarnation, Karmic theory and
liberation from the life-cycle (nirvāna and moksa), used to be widespread covering entire Asia. The commonality extended in many other aspects linked to the traditional religions, what we call Sanatan Dharma, presently called Hinduism. The discovery of the commonality helps self-discovery and self-appraisal; it becomes an act of selfportraiture. Of course, in India, information on such topics is never given to the students, it is taboo practiced by our academics and intellectuals to have discourse on such subjects. This leads to ‘Culture/ tradition illiteracy’, a dominant trait of English educated modern Indians. As a result, our elite have inherited lot of myths, lies and
confusion from their colonial masters. Anything beyond political India, even if non-political and otherwise deeply linked, is alien for them. The denial syndrome is pervasive; it envelopes cultural, linguistic, historical and all other spheres. There is an increasing trend of replacing India for ‘South Asia’ during the academic discourses today; the use of the term ‘Bharata’ is becoming rarer in scholarly writings,
which is part of the same malady.
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| 5 |
ID:
135827
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| Summary/Abstract |
Naṭaṉa Gopāla Nāyaki Svāmikaḷ (1843–1914), born Ramabadran, was a Vaiṣṇava poet, mystic and performer who belonged to the Saurashtra community of Madurai. Revered within his community as the ‘Saurashtra Āḻvār’ (poet-saint), he is arguably their most important literary and musical figure. Initially known only to his intimate circle of family, as Nāyaki Svāmikaḷ's fame spread, his simple devotional compositions (kīrttaṉai) written in Tamil and Saurashtra are purported to have attracted disciples from all classes and castes in Madurai. Today, Nāyaki Svāmikaḷ's fame is largely confined to the Saurashtra community of Madurai, although the annual celebration in December of his samādhi (death, final liberation) brings together both the Tamil and Saurashtra communities of Madurai. The samādhi (sacred sepulchre) just outside Madurai is the primary locus for his worship, where he is remembered through the daily performance of his kīrttaṉais. In this paper, I trace the making of a twentieth-century Hindu saint within a small, but visible, migrant minority community in South India along the intersecting vectors of his hagiography and the circulation and performance of his Tamil and Saurashtri kīrttaṉais. I argue that Nāyaki Svāmikaḷ's hagiography and music bring together the Saurashtra community of Madurai, while simultaneously seeking to broaden his appeal outside the spatial confines of Madurai.
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| 6 |
ID:
135728
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| Summary/Abstract |
Pilgrimage to Mt Kailash has become a practice that continues to traverse the boundaries of religion, class and region. Besides Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas, Sikhs, and Bönpos who do the circumambulation1 of this mountain, many semi-pilgrims are drawn to this place not only because it is a dangerous undertaking, but also because it offers challenge to one’s endurance, patience, and financial situation. The cosmologies and myths of origin of each of the four religions (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism, and Bön) speak of Kailasa as the mythical Mt Meru, the centre and birth place of the entire universe. Pilgrimage to this mountain, undoubtedly, appears as a recurrent theme at all times in the art and literature of both India and Tibet.
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| 7 |
ID:
135718
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| Summary/Abstract |
Lord Shiva is alive and well in Thailand, but few if any know where he is. But with a little curiosity and the willingness to explore his whereabouts the results will reveal a surprising amount of presence of Lord Shiva in Thailand. Of the twelve royal festivals that still take place under the guidance of the Phra Maha Rajaguru Bidhi Sri Visudhigun, head Brahman priest to the royal family, Lord Shiva is not only recognized but is invited to stay in Thailand for ten days during the Giant Swing ceremony, which takes place in January of every year.
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| 8 |
ID:
135726
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| Summary/Abstract |
Siva, the lord the south
There is a popular prayer in Tamilnadu saying “Hail ye Siva the lord of Southern Country, the god who pervades all the Countries – “Ten Nadudaya Sivane Porri, Ennattavarkum iraiva porri.” South India is the land of Shiva not in any sectarian sense of the word, but as “the most auspicious of all.” Shiva also stands for “auspicious” from the time of the Vedas and is an all inclusive faith. It is also for the reason that the Lord seated beneath the banyan tree (ala-vrksha) is the Universal teacher as Dakshinâmurthi is the most favoured form in TN, which represents the “God of the south” or the south facing god. One of the ancient legend mentioned in a two thousand years of Tamil poetry mentions that the sage Agastya came to the south at the command of lord Siva and brought with him 18 families of Royal chiefs, settled them in Tamil Nadu, taught the Pandya king of Madurai Tamil and Sanskrit, and also
music and dance. Ever since, he is identified as an incarnation of lord Shiva. That led to the translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil and the Shaivism found in the Mahabharata is the one that is found established in Tamil land.
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| 9 |
ID:
135716
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| Summary/Abstract |
The seventy-five glorious years of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan have been the heaven and jasmine of its founder and his clarion call of Jaya Somanatha, to bloom the cultural dreams of a renascent India, to unveil the shining peaks of our minds over the millenia. The noble vision of Kulapati Munshi became embedded in the Bhavan to keep alive the light on the horizons of history, and angelic in the wrappings of life: can flowers forget the spring? It is in tune with the founding spirit of the Bhavan to celebrate its platinum jubilee with a symposium on Abhinavagupta the great master of the Trika philosophy of Kashmir, who also formulated a new theory of aesthetics. A few weeks before Kulapati Munshi ascended the Heavenly Fields of eternal Vrindavana beyond the plane of duality, I was in Mumbai and went to see him. He lay on his couch, with his charming consort Leelavati sitting beside him. I began with an interpretation of his historic noval Jaya Somanatha. Somnatha was a temple dedicated to Lord Śiva as the Lord of the Moon, as the guardian of trans-oceanic merchants. The waxing and waning of the Moon has fatal effects on the waves of the oceans which toss the ships in deadly turbulence. The Jātakamālā of Āryaśūra recounts the voyage of the seasoned steersman Supāraga when the sea took a terrible aspect all of a sudden: like the earth quivering with her mountains at the time of world destruction. The sea rose up in rage, saddening the hearts of the occupants Supāraga refers to Sopara seaport in Gujarat. Just as Śiva lessened the impact of the torrents of the Gangā descending to earth, so does' He mitigate the tumult and turbulence, the Sturm und Drang, caused by the Moon (Soma). As Lord of the Moon, as Soma-nātha, he blesses marine travel with safety and assurance. Somnath was a Temple of Mariners, and even Arab merchants made offerings for safety and success in their trade. The renown of the extravagant riches of Somnath spread all over the lands of trans-national trade, whether Alexandria, Iraq, Iran or Central Asian kingdoms. Its immense oppulence attracted greed and fundamentalism in 1024AC when it was sacked after a fiercely contested battle in which fifty thousand defenders were killed and the invaders returned with a huge booty.
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| 10 |
ID:
135724
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| Summary/Abstract |
Shaivism was the State religion of ancient Cambodia. Several epigraphical and Chinese annals testify it. Shaivism played a significant role in the foundation of early Khmer kingdoms, known as Funan, Chen-la or Pre-Angkor and Angkor. The present paper discusses the prevalence of Shaivism in the early kingdoms of Cambodia. Before discussing on Shaivism in Cambodia, it would be pertinent to throw a brief light on Indian Shaivism.
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| 11 |
ID:
135719
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| Summary/Abstract |
Although, ancient Cham sculptures underwent transformation under the influence of Brahmanism was presented under certain common rules — to portray gods and to reflect subjects of Brahmanism — on the other, and yet it boasts its own features and Champanization. Contrary to the Indian, the Khmer, and the Cham, the Cham sculptures reflect Shiva in the art of stone sculpture and temples. They believe in Shivaism and consider Shiva as the prime divinity of the kingdom.
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| 12 |
ID:
134264
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| Summary/Abstract |
This essay explores the rich verbal- and visual-narrative repertoires constitutive of a ‘sense of place’ within the Urdu-language Khushtar Ramayan, highlighting some of the significant ways in which they converge with and diverge from other prominent textual and visual representations of the Ramayan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The material history of Khushtar's work as a book is also traced in order to illuminate a number of important linkages and shifts from a ‘local’ courtly economy and ‘sense of place’ to an emergent, proto-national, print-commercial one.
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