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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... 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, are drawn from all over Sri Lanka and are pre ...
... Tamil Saivite worship, but I am fairly certain all of the people involved that day at the river were Sinhala Buddhists (with possibly some Roman Catholics). Their participation in such worship is a feature of what has been labelled for ...
... Tamil Saivite and Sinhala Buddhist . For , while the sponsor of the Kali shrine is Tamil Saivite , the aesthetic style of his shrine with its painted statue is more routinely Sinhala Buddhist , and its priest on the day is also ...
... Tamil Saivite priests. This is important because through their ownership the priests have remained instrumental in determining the nature and content of worship, and thereby lessened the excluding influence of major interest groups such ...
... Tamil Saivite temple with a predominantly Sinhala Buddhist patronage in a period of ethnic violence between Tamils and Sinhalese. I am also concerned to show how Munnesvaram survives and thrives in such a situation as a Hindu temple. In ...
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 |