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. |
From inside the book
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Page 6
Crucially, the temple aesthetic is, in my analysis, the fundamental expression of divinity and not simply its representational signification. In the broad approach I take to the aesthetic of Munnesvaram as both form and practice, ...
Crucially, the temple aesthetic is, in my analysis, the fundamental expression of divinity and not simply its representational signification. In the broad approach I take to the aesthetic of Munnesvaram as both form and practice, ...
Page 7
Moreover, the presence of two temples, one run by vegetarian Brahmins the other by non-vegetarian non-Brahmins, enables the complex to express in a refractive manner (and not simply reflect or represent) the activities of sections of ...
Moreover, the presence of two temples, one run by vegetarian Brahmins the other by non-vegetarian non-Brahmins, enables the complex to express in a refractive manner (and not simply reflect or represent) the activities of sections of ...
Page 8
I state that the temples express in a refractive manner, rather than reflect or represent, in order to stress that temples do not simply reflect social relations whose reality lies elsewhere, rather they constitute nodal points in the ...
I state that the temples express in a refractive manner, rather than reflect or represent, in order to stress that temples do not simply reflect social relations whose reality lies elsewhere, rather they constitute nodal points in the ...
Page 13
Finally, having moved through a detailed presentation of the festival I return to the question of the relationship between the Hindu temple and its world, a world of complex social relations not simply reducible to a sense of a singular ...
Finally, having moved through a detailed presentation of the festival I return to the question of the relationship between the Hindu temple and its world, a world of complex social relations not simply reducible to a sense of a singular ...
Page 14
Its 'inside story' is not simply a journalistic scoop about what really happened, rather it is a powerful insight into the nature of the surface appearance of crisis as an irruption in the social field of otherwise embedded social ...
Its 'inside story' is not simply a journalistic scoop about what really happened, rather it is a powerful insight into the nature of the surface appearance of crisis as an irruption in the social field of otherwise embedded social ...
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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 |