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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... especially of and for women and the household. What the Navaratri achieves, therefore, is a further marginalisation of Munnesvaram, one that contributes to its sense of potency. The regular rites of the day, week and month, as well as ...
... especially from the beginning of 1985. The Indian army participated as a 'Peace Keeping Force' in 1987 and 1988. 5. My source is my own sample of the temple patronage taken between April 1985 and April 1986. Buddhists constitute roughly ...
... especially the Siva temples, is a port-town temple whose fame and earlier grandeur convey the importance of these port-temples as nodal points in complex social fields articulating agriculture and commerce, political orders, localised ...
... especially throughout the medieval period from around the thirteenth century to the sixteenth century. As Susan Bayly (1989) shows in her excellent study of this period in south India, temples, political rulers and manufacture for trade ...
... especially from the urbanised areas along the western littoral. They give offerings that range from a few rupees to several hundred, or sponsor elaborate personal rites for their own well-being that cost upwards of a few thousand rupees ...
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 |