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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... deities and by the dynamic of religious practice, both Tamil Saivite and Sinhala Buddhist. For, while the sponsor of ... deity at a special site for that deity. Haskam (or anuhasa) is a term about as easy to define as the places with ...
... deities, conveys the sense of how certain features of the sacred enable and thus encompass other features. Like the temple deities installed in the lotus pavilion who generate the swarm of tranceinducing lesser deities, the higher ...
... deities with particular actions. My point is that the priests enable the private offerings through their own ritual practice, but must then contend with the dynamic relationships of deities and devotees that ensue. Particularly ...
... deities of the Munnesvaram complex are Siva, his consort(s) and his children, and because the temple worship of the principal temples is organised around the Saivagama texts, although it is not limited to these texts. 4. The first major ...
... deities with a very popular shrine at the edge of Madampe town (Bell 1920).8 The nature of this deity is closely linked with the regional guardian god whom I discuss below. Vital to the bandara tradition is the weaving of historical ...
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 |