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
Results 11-15 of 59
... village and from some of the nearby villages attended and supported Pusparamaya, but apart from the classrooms on school days, Pusparamaya was fairly quiet. So too was the Aiyanayake temple, which opened once a week in the late ...
... villages that in Tamil 'Ambal' is a shortening of 'Amma Pal' ('Milk Mother'). Women, these informants added, used to suckle their new-born in the presence of the goddess in order to ensure a good and vital supply of breast milk. This ...
... villages and getting a sense of their size, agriculture and religious background. One village received special attention because of its heavy involvement with Munnesvaram, its own village temples, and its Tamil ethnicity. In this village ...
... villages. Residents of these villages have minimal participation with Munnesvaram and what they do have is almost exclusively with the main Munnesvaram temple, and only with that during the annual festival when they sponsor a day of ...
... village (Return of the Population of the Island of Ceylon, 1816) – a far cry from the five hundred converts reported by the Jesuits for Munnesvaram in the 1640s (Don Peter 1978: 47). The pattuva number doubled in ten years to 2,042, 103 ...
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 |