The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri LankaThe Sri Lankan ethnic conflict that has occurred largely between Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus is marked by a degree of religious tolerance that sees both communities worshiping together. This study describes one important site of such worship, the ancient Hindu temple complex of Munnesvaram. Standing adjacent to one of Sri Lanka's historical western ports, the fortunes of the Munnesvaram temples have waxed and waned through the years of turbulence, violence and social change that have been the country's lot since the advent of European colonialism in the Indian Ocean. Bastin recounts the story of these temples and analyses how the Hindu temple is reproduced as a center of worship amidst conflict and competition. |
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... Temple Sinhala Buddhism and Its Radical Temporality Popular Religion as a Practice of Resistance The Saivite Temple as a Monumental Architecture Potency as Simultaneous Origin and Effect Monumental Architecture Essentials: Temples ...
Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri Lanka Rohan Bastin ... Temple Map of Munnesvaram Showing Processions Arrangement of Deities for the Processions The Nine Planets as they are positioned in their Saivite temple shrine xxiv ...
Each temple is owned and run by a distinct group of Tamil Hindu priests, and each temple largely conforms to the aesthetic style and ritual practice of the south Indian Hindu and specifically Saivite temple.3 The worshippers, though, ...
The related context is the Saivite/Buddhist temple complex of Kataragama; the most important temple complex of its kind in all Sri Lanka and one that bears comparison with Munnesvaram in several respects that will be explored in the ...
Such behaviour contributes to the overall spectacle that is a vital component of the temples' significance. ... Passing over the River Dedura and continuing a few kilometres north one finds a strangely designed Saivite temple dating ...
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Contents
1 | |
15 | |
Chapter 3 Myths and Marginality | 43 |
Chapter 4 Ritual Practices and Religious Identity | 59 |
Chapter 5 The Saivite Temple as a Monumental Architecture | 89 |
Puja and Arccanai | 117 |
Chapter 7 The Presence of Sakti | 133 |
Chapter 8 Guardians Games and the Formation of Power | 145 |
Chapter 9 The World Inside Out | 163 |
Chapter 10 The Domain of Excess | 183 |
Divine Kings and Regal Gods Temples in Society and History | 195 |
References | 213 |
Index | 227 |
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The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in ... Rohan Bastin No preview available - 2002 |