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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... ethnic groups. Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is a sordid and bloody business that has shattered the lives of all Sri Lankans in one way or another.16 At its heart lies the dispute over the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan State that was ...
... ethnic boundaries and identity, and the sacred or numinous as the critical feature of all religions, become ... ethnic conflict, but unfortunately this hope is generated within a framework conditioned by ideas of ethnic boundaries that ...
... ethnic boundaries that are not appropriate to the Sri Lankan context. In these terms, the following study of ... ethnic conflict does, at times, pervade these relations, but in accordance with several social scientists writing on the ...
... ethnicity, class and gender. Above all, temples are about divinity, righteous action and demons. They confront the issue of action as the expression of the world, and even appear to capture it. However, in doing so they forge the ...
... ethnic group, the majority of the remainder being Roman Catholic (6%). At Munnesvaram, the proportion of Buddhists to non-Buddhists amongst the Sinhalese is closer to 94%. 6. Victor Turner's classic study of the Ndembu (1996), for ...
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 |