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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Page 5
As the bo tree shrine and its Kali worship developed the linga temple deteriorated. The two events are not completely concomitant but they do bear upon each other as expressions of a broader process affecting the Munnesvaram temples as ...
As the bo tree shrine and its Kali worship developed the linga temple deteriorated. The two events are not completely concomitant but they do bear upon each other as expressions of a broader process affecting the Munnesvaram temples as ...
Page 8
What I pursue in the following is an analysis of the Munnesvaram temple complex through which I develop general points about the south Indian temple. My primary aim is to convey a sense of the uniqueness of Munnesvaram – a Tamil Saivite ...
What I pursue in the following is an analysis of the Munnesvaram temple complex through which I develop general points about the south Indian temple. My primary aim is to convey a sense of the uniqueness of Munnesvaram – a Tamil Saivite ...
Page 13
They are concerned with the status of power and as such they develop understandings of power, status, kingship, sacrifice and transaction, as well as caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Above all, temples are about divinity, ...
They are concerned with the status of power and as such they develop understandings of power, status, kingship, sacrifice and transaction, as well as caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Above all, temples are about divinity, ...
Page 18
Casie Chitty indicates how the region around the Munnesvaram temples has a history of association with Tamil political leaders tied to Sinhalese kingdoms, and it is in this historical setting that the Munnesvaram temples developed.
Casie Chitty indicates how the region around the Munnesvaram temples has a history of association with Tamil political leaders tied to Sinhalese kingdoms, and it is in this historical setting that the Munnesvaram temples developed.
Page 30
The new administration's principal task was handling the sale of land to the capitalist entrepreneurs who developed the plantations. Strikingly, these entrepreneurial planters hailed, for the most part, from the south of the island and ...
The new administration's principal task was handling the sale of land to the capitalist entrepreneurs who developed the plantations. Strikingly, these entrepreneurial planters hailed, for the most part, from the south of the island and ...
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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 |
Other editions - View all
The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in ... Rohan Bastin No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
according action active aesthetic Ambal annual associated attend bathing becomes Bhadrakali temple body Brahmins called caste central century Chapter Chilaw closely coconut complex condition deities demonic described developed devotees discussion divine especially ethnic example existence expression festival Figure flag front goddess ground guardian hall Hindu human important Indian inside involves Jaffna Kali Kataragama king lamp land marked meaning movement Munnesvaram temple myth nature Navaratri noted Obeyesekere offerings origin Pattini pattuva performed Pillaiyar popular possibility potency potentiality practice presence priests procession puja regard region relation religious remains reveals rite ritual Saivite temple sense shrine simply Sinh Sinhala Buddhist Sinhalese situation Siva social sorcery space specific Sri Lanka statue stress symbolic takes Tamil Saivite temple’s theme traditions tree village worship
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri Lanka |
| Author | Rohan Bastin |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books, 2002 |
| ISBN | 1789203678, 9781789203677 |
| Length | 254 pages |
| Subjects | › › Religion / General Social Science / Anthropology / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |