The Koil Olugu or the chronicle of the Ranganathasvami temple at Srirangam (present-day Tamil Nad... more The Koil Olugu or the chronicle of the Ranganathasvami temple at Srirangam (present-day Tamil Nadu) documents the town's history, and the temple from the early period till the eighteenth century. The present essay will analyze the narratives in the text to understand the nature of documenting the town's history in a particular manner. While historians have used the Olugu for linearly writing the history of Srirangam or selected episodes to highlight certain aspects of the town’s life, the text as a whole is hardly studied. It is argued that since the onset of its composition from the fifteenth-sixteenth century, the text was a documentation in progress that registered the changing contexts in which it was being written, delineating a complex and multi-layered image of Srirangam, challenging its stereotype of a mere pilgrimage town.
This book offers fresh theoretical, methodological, and empirical analyses of the relation betwee... more This book offers fresh theoretical, methodological, and empirical analyses of the relation between religion and the city in the South Asian context. Uniting the historical with the contemporary by looking at the medieval and early modern links between religious faith and urban settlement, the book brings together a series of focused studies of the mixed and multiple practices and spatial negotiations of religion in the South Asian city. It looks at the various ways in which contemporary religious practice affects urban everyday life, commerce, craft, infrastructure, cultural forms, art, music, and architecture. Chapters draw upon original empirical study and research to analyze the foundational, structural, material, and cultural connections between religious practice and urban formations or flows. The book argues that Indian cities are not 'postsecular' in the sense that the term is currently used in the modern West but that there has been, rather, a deep, even foundational link between religion and urbanism, producing different versions of urban modernity. Questions of caste, gender, community, intersectional entanglements, physical proximity, private or public ritual, processions and prayer, economic and political factors, material objects, and changes in the built environment are all taken into consideration, and the book offers an interdisciplinary analysis of different historical periods, different cities, and different types of religious practice. Filling a gap in the literature by discussing a diversity of settings and faiths, the book will be of interest to scholars of South Asian history, sociology, literary analysis, urban studies, and cultural studies.
Discusses the relevance of early modern as a valid category of periodization, especially in the c... more Discusses the relevance of early modern as a valid category of periodization, especially in the case of south Indian history.
The History of Vai‹ƒavism in South India falls naturally into three divisions. The first covering... more The History of Vai‹ƒavism in South India falls naturally into three divisions. The first covering the period from the earliest times upto Ramanuja (10171137) would deal with the origin of Vai‹ƒavism, the age of the Alvars, and the age of the Acaryas from Nathamuni to Ramanuja. The second division covering a period of nearly three centuriesnthe 11th, 12th and 13th from Ramanuja to Pi ailokacarya and VeΔka¢anatha (1286-1370) may be described as the period of the unity of Vai‹ƒavism. The third and the last division comprising the period after the 13th century may be described as the schismatic and therefore, the least creative period of its history.
One of the joys of reading short stories in a collection is that one can linger on each story wit... more One of the joys of reading short stories in a collection is that one can linger on each story without feeling compelled to go forward, anxiously clutching the threads of the narrative. Lakshmi Kanan's collection of short stories has the similar quality of making the reader ruminate and sense the resonance as each of the stories in some way or the other connects with the life experiences of the reader.
This Unit discusses the urban processes and characteristics of the capital city of the Vijayanaga... more This Unit discusses the urban processes and characteristics of the capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vijayanagara. The Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1672 CE) was established in the fourteenth century against the backdrop of the invasions of the Delhi Sultanate under Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1324-51 CE) and the decline of the Hoysala power (1022-1342 CE) in Karnataka and Kakatiyas (1000-1326 CE) in the Andhra region. The first dynasty of the empire, the Sangamas (1336-1485 CE) established and built the capital of the empire near a village called Hampi along the Tungabhadra river in the Deccan. However, the economic and political potential of this area were limited. It was with the subsequent political conquests southwards that the Empire emerged as a consolidated ruling power. Thus this political process of expansion integrated the peninsular region south of river Tungabhadra, by bringing together the three zones of Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karnataka. Finally, the defeat of the Madurai...
Whitney Cox, Politics, Kingship, and Poetry in Medieval South India: Moonset on Sunrise Mountain,... more Whitney Cox, Politics, Kingship, and Poetry in Medieval South India: Moonset on Sunrise Mountain, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi (South Asian Edition), 2017, 309 + i–xv pp., ₹470.
The Koil Olugu or the chronicle of the Ranganathasvami temple at Srirangam (present-day Tamil Nad... more The Koil Olugu or the chronicle of the Ranganathasvami temple at Srirangam (present-day Tamil Nadu) documents the town's history, and the temple from the early period till the eighteenth century. The present essay will analyze the narratives in the text to understand the nature of documenting the town's history in a particular manner. While historians have used the Olugu for linearly writing the history of Srirangam or selected episodes to highlight certain aspects of the town’s life, the text as a whole is hardly studied. It is argued that since the onset of its composition from the fifteenth-sixteenth century, the text was a documentation in progress that registered the changing contexts in which it was being written, delineating a complex and multi-layered image of Srirangam, challenging its stereotype of a mere pilgrimage town.
This book offers fresh theoretical, methodological, and empirical analyses of the relation betwee... more This book offers fresh theoretical, methodological, and empirical analyses of the relation between religion and the city in the South Asian context. Uniting the historical with the contemporary by looking at the medieval and early modern links between religious faith and urban settlement, the book brings together a series of focused studies of the mixed and multiple practices and spatial negotiations of religion in the South Asian city. It looks at the various ways in which contemporary religious practice affects urban everyday life, commerce, craft, infrastructure, cultural forms, art, music, and architecture. Chapters draw upon original empirical study and research to analyze the foundational, structural, material, and cultural connections between religious practice and urban formations or flows. The book argues that Indian cities are not 'postsecular' in the sense that the term is currently used in the modern West but that there has been, rather, a deep, even foundational link between religion and urbanism, producing different versions of urban modernity. Questions of caste, gender, community, intersectional entanglements, physical proximity, private or public ritual, processions and prayer, economic and political factors, material objects, and changes in the built environment are all taken into consideration, and the book offers an interdisciplinary analysis of different historical periods, different cities, and different types of religious practice. Filling a gap in the literature by discussing a diversity of settings and faiths, the book will be of interest to scholars of South Asian history, sociology, literary analysis, urban studies, and cultural studies.
Discusses the relevance of early modern as a valid category of periodization, especially in the c... more Discusses the relevance of early modern as a valid category of periodization, especially in the case of south Indian history.
The History of Vai‹ƒavism in South India falls naturally into three divisions. The first covering... more The History of Vai‹ƒavism in South India falls naturally into three divisions. The first covering the period from the earliest times upto Ramanuja (10171137) would deal with the origin of Vai‹ƒavism, the age of the Alvars, and the age of the Acaryas from Nathamuni to Ramanuja. The second division covering a period of nearly three centuriesnthe 11th, 12th and 13th from Ramanuja to Pi ailokacarya and VeΔka¢anatha (1286-1370) may be described as the period of the unity of Vai‹ƒavism. The third and the last division comprising the period after the 13th century may be described as the schismatic and therefore, the least creative period of its history.
One of the joys of reading short stories in a collection is that one can linger on each story wit... more One of the joys of reading short stories in a collection is that one can linger on each story without feeling compelled to go forward, anxiously clutching the threads of the narrative. Lakshmi Kanan's collection of short stories has the similar quality of making the reader ruminate and sense the resonance as each of the stories in some way or the other connects with the life experiences of the reader.
This Unit discusses the urban processes and characteristics of the capital city of the Vijayanaga... more This Unit discusses the urban processes and characteristics of the capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vijayanagara. The Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1672 CE) was established in the fourteenth century against the backdrop of the invasions of the Delhi Sultanate under Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1324-51 CE) and the decline of the Hoysala power (1022-1342 CE) in Karnataka and Kakatiyas (1000-1326 CE) in the Andhra region. The first dynasty of the empire, the Sangamas (1336-1485 CE) established and built the capital of the empire near a village called Hampi along the Tungabhadra river in the Deccan. However, the economic and political potential of this area were limited. It was with the subsequent political conquests southwards that the Empire emerged as a consolidated ruling power. Thus this political process of expansion integrated the peninsular region south of river Tungabhadra, by bringing together the three zones of Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karnataka. Finally, the defeat of the Madurai...
Whitney Cox, Politics, Kingship, and Poetry in Medieval South India: Moonset on Sunrise Mountain,... more Whitney Cox, Politics, Kingship, and Poetry in Medieval South India: Moonset on Sunrise Mountain, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi (South Asian Edition), 2017, 309 + i–xv pp., ₹470.
Uploads
Papers by ranjeeta dutta