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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... Sinhala Buddhist. It also reveals the close association that the Munnesvaram priests identify between the main Munnesvaram temple and kings. The relationship between Munnesvaram and Sinhala Buddhist kings, evident in the temple origin ...
... Sinhala Buddhist presence. Thus, in Chapter 5 I examine the aesthetics of the Munnesvaram temple as an architectural form and as a space for the obligatory and regular rites through which the form is rendered as a site for practice. I ...
... Sinhalese territory and not a fully-fledged conquest. 2. Translated by S.G. Perera S.J. in 1916 and reproduced with revisions by V. Perniola S.J. (1991: 304–305). 3. Sri Lankan Tamil Hinduism is more accurately called Saivism. Put ...
... Sinhalese is closer to 94%. 6. Victor Turner's classic study of the Ndembu (1996), for example, is one where the ... Sinhala (Sinh.), Tamil (Tm.) and Sanskrit (Skt.). 9. This priest lives and works in Kuliyapitiya, about 30 km to the ...
... Sinhalese ethnic group and also became designated under the broad category Karava.2The presence of a local Tamil-Sinhala dialect and the high incidence of Tamil-Sinhala bilingualism and what the 1921 Census described as non-Sinhala ...
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 |