eBook - PDF
Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics
Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits
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eBook - PDF
Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics
Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits
About this book
Throughout India and Southeast Asia, ancient classical epics—the Mahabharata and the Ramayana—continue to exert considerable cultural influence. Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics offers an unprecedented exploration into South Asia's regional epic traditions.
Using his own fieldwork as a starting point, Alf Hiltebeitel analyzes how the oral tradition of the south Indian cult of the goddess Draupadi and five regional martial oral epics compare with one another and tie in with the Sanskrit epics. Drawing on literary theory and cultural studies, he reveals the shared subtexts of the Draupadi cult Mahabharata and the five oral epics, and shows how the traditional plots are twisted and classical characters reshaped to reflect local history and religion. In doing so, Hiltebeitel sheds new light on the intertwining oral traditions of medieval Rajput military culture, Dalits ("former Untouchables"), and Muslims.
Breathtaking in scope, this work is indispensable for those seeking a deeper understanding of South Asia's Hindu and Muslim traditions.
This work is the third volume in Hiltebeitel's study of the Draupadi cult. Other volumes include Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Volume One), On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess (Volume Two), and Rethinking the Mahabharata (Volume Four).
Using his own fieldwork as a starting point, Alf Hiltebeitel analyzes how the oral tradition of the south Indian cult of the goddess Draupadi and five regional martial oral epics compare with one another and tie in with the Sanskrit epics. Drawing on literary theory and cultural studies, he reveals the shared subtexts of the Draupadi cult Mahabharata and the five oral epics, and shows how the traditional plots are twisted and classical characters reshaped to reflect local history and religion. In doing so, Hiltebeitel sheds new light on the intertwining oral traditions of medieval Rajput military culture, Dalits ("former Untouchables"), and Muslims.
Breathtaking in scope, this work is indispensable for those seeking a deeper understanding of South Asia's Hindu and Muslim traditions.
This work is the third volume in Hiltebeitel's study of the Draupadi cult. Other volumes include Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Volume One), On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess (Volume Two), and Rethinking the Mahabharata (Volume Four).
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Yes, you can access Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics by Alf Hiltebeitel in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Asian History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- List of Maps and Tables
- List of Plates
- Acknowledgments
- Conventions
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Oral Epics
- 3. The Elder Brothers and the Heroes of Palnadu
- 4. The Epic of Pabuji
- 5. Opening Alha
- 6. The Nine-Lakh Chain
- 7. The Story of Krsnamsa
- 8. Kuruksetra II
- 9. Time-Routes through the Krsnamsacarita
- 10. Their Name Is Legion
- 11. The Ballad of Raja Desing
- 12. Barbarika, Aravan, Kuttantavar: Furthering the Case of the Severed Head
- 13. The Myth of the Agnivamsa
- 14. Draupadi Becomes Bela, Bela Becomes Sati
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- General Index