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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... where power is very simply the power over another.12 Potentiality in my usage relates to the French term puissance in contrast to pouvoir where pouvoir (power, command) is an instantiation of puissance (a potential for existence).13 ...
Part of this heterogeneity is the temple complex's double existence of being both a regional temple (Tm. desam kovil) and a special pilgrimage (or as I shall show antipilgrimage) centre for relief from affliction.
Instead, the sacred is to be considered as the setting-apart, or process of becoming sacred, which can take the form of re-origination and the irruption into existence of a powerful assemblage of forces that are not not-profane.
... not know of its existence. Partly for this reason, very few of the Sinhala Buddhist visitors to Munnesvaram went to Pusparamaya, leaving the monk with the typical missionary's dilemma of pondering ways of improving his situation.
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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 |