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
... Potency as Simultaneous Origin and Effect Monumental Architecture Essentials: Temples in War and Death Munnesvaram Temple Design Binding the Manifestation of Divine Play The Mixing of Cosmological Concepts Cosmos, Body and Symbolic ...
... potency acquire their force in the production and reproduction of everyday worship. I examine the relation between the temple and its world in order to explore the interactive dynamism of a complex South Asian society and its techniques ...
... potency of the temple's dynamic. The events are associated with the festival climax, an event known in Tamil as the 'sacred bath' (tirtham)7 and in Sinhala as the 'water cutting' (diya käpima) where a representation of the temple deity ...
... potency of the riverside bo tree stems from the deity pavilion and the festival bathing rite, which draw out a symbolic association of the site as an ambiguous juncture of land and water. Most importantly, the potency is expressed in ...
... potency' or 'potentiality' (from the common Latin root, potens) in order to indicate that my study examines power in a very broad sense and not simply in the more limited sense of 'command', where power is very simply the power over ...
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 |