-
Vasantotsava: The Sp...
Vasantotsava: The Spring Festivals of India
Texts and Traditions by: Leona M. AndersonThis study treats Vasantotsava as a thematically unified generic whole embracing a range of spring festivals, pansectarian in character and incorporating various rituals. It reassesses Sanskrit texts to explore the rituals, symbols and underlying motifs of the Vasantotsava.
₹450.00
ISBN: 9788124600115
Year Of Publication: 2005
Edition: 3rd
Pages : xi, 254 [+8]
Bibliographic Details : 8 Coloured plates; Glossary; Bibliography; Index
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23 cm.
Weight: 500
This study treats Vasantotsava as a thematically unified generic whole embracing a wide range of spring festivals including the Phalgunotsava, Caitrotsava, Phalgu, Madhutsava, Madanamahotsava, Madanatroydashi, Anangotsava, Madanadvadaishi, Kamotsava, Shripancami, Yatramahotsava, and Holaka (Holi). These festivals are pansectarian in character and incorporate a variety of ritual observances practised through- out the Indian subcontinent. Signifying the termination of winter and announcing the advent of spring, the celebration was a diverse and complex spectacle situated within the framework of Indian ritual and myth. On the basis of puranic and ritual texts, folk tales, drama, poetry, and narratives in mixed prose and poetry (campus), Dr. Anderson addresses complex issues of indigenous ritual, mythology, and tradition. The Vasantotsava incorporates a broad spectrum of human concerns: in the sphere of polity, it can be turned to account to celebrate and reinforce the power of the king; in the social sphere, it is a time of revelry and merry-making indicative of the annual renewal in human affairs; and in the sphere of religion, it celebrates the exploits of the gods and establishes a link between human and divine actions and events.
Acknowledgements
List of Plates
1. Introduction
The Date of the Vasantotsava
2. The Vasantotsava and its Variants
The Vasantotsava and the Worship of Kama
Vasantotsava and Holi
Vasantotsava and Regional Celebrations
3. The Ratnavali: The City
Manners and Ways
Colours, Powders, and Syringes
Motifs
4. The Ratnavali: The Pleasure Grove
Flowers and Trees
The Ashoka Tree
The Mango Tree
Kamadeva
Kama Rituals: The Matsya Purana and the Sanatkumara Samhita
Kama and Women
Images of Kama and Image Worship
5. The Spring Stage
The Ratnavali
Priyadarshika
Malavikagnimitram
Parijata-Manjari Alias Vijayashri
Underlying Themes: Fertility and Marriage
Marriage and Renewal
6. Kathasaritsagara
The Kathasaritsagara: Book xii, Story Number 17
The King
Duty or Desire
The Buddhist Recension
7. Vikramacarita
Story Number 16: The Spring Festival and the Brahmins Daughter
The Good King
The Jain Recension
The Seclusion of the King
Deities and Worship
8. Bhavishya Purana, 135: Kama
Bhavishya Purana, 135: Madanamahotsavavarnam
Kamas Mythology and the Vasantotsava
Kama and Shiva
Jagarana
Navaratra
9. Bhavishya Purana, 132: The Demoness
Bhavishya Purana, 132: Phalgunapurnimotsavavarnam
Dhaundha, Holaka and Putana
The Demoness and the Gods
Children
Fire and Ash
10. Virupakshavasantotsavacampu
The Axis of Power: The City and the Temple
Chapter Three: The Festival of the Chariot (Rathotsava)
The King in his City
Chapter Four: The Hunt Festival (Mrigayotsava)
The Shaiva Tradition and the Vasantotsava
11. Conclusion
The Vasantotsava and Sectarianism
Indramahotsava
Vedic Precedents
Glossary
Dates of Texts
Bibliography
Index
-
Sale!India and South-East Asia ₹3,240.00
The South-East is a cultural perspective aptly named agneyi the direction of the God Agni. It is reflected even in the Sino-Japanese Mahakarunagarbha mandala of the 8th century where Agni is surrounded by sages: Angiras with his consort Gautami and Atreya with his consort Bhrgvi. In the Pao-hsiang Lou pantheon Agni is surrounded by eight rsi’s Angiras, Vasistha, Garga, Markandeya, Gautama, Kasyapa, Shan-ch’eng-ming-yang and Su-chi-i (the Sanskrit names of the last two have to yet to be found). In Indic terms, the conceptual space of SE Asia endows it with the serenity of the mind, the grandeur of structures, the profundity of expression derived from Sanskrit. The SE is the mind ground of the sages, the rishis, and as such the marvellous manifestation of the Hindu-Buddhist genius. This book chronicles the dynamism, the fire, the Agni of the Agneya (SE) direction across the past that shades into the present with tomorrows inside.
-
Sale!Borobudur ₹4,680.00
Borobudur was constructed during the eighth century as a guide to the Noble Path of the Buddha. Born from silence and unfolding into the serenity of the other shore, it expresses the glory of Indonesia’s awareness and creativity, the smile of her plastic forms over the centuries as well as her travels along the edge of thoughts that cross the endless corridors of memory.
Though the Western world rediscovered this magnificent structure almost 200 years ago, this sacred place nonetheless remains seated in its enigmatic depth, engulfed in vaporous illusions, waiting for someone to find the base simplicity of its Truth. This book is a catalyst and invites adventurous minds to find new directionJs by bringing into focus the vast universe of the Borobudur in order to cultivate the Way to weeding out error. The questions posed or solutions offered herein are like water and waves: different yet identical in essence. They stir discussion.
One of the special contributions of this book lies in its correlating the cyclical movements of the Sun and Moon with the numerical symbolism of Borobudur. The authors cite the magical effect of the Sun suddenly appearing out of the volcano Merapi and empowering the Borobudur-mountain with its radiant energy in poetic imagery. This magic moment of satori or enlightenment echoes the experiences of the unknown Shailendra monarch who had commissioned the monument’s construction and the inspiration that made the architect envision this Buddhist wonder.
-
Sale!Nomenclature of The Vedas ₹810.00
With elaborate notes on legends of the Vedas, the book attempts to study various aspects of the Vedas. It presents a detailed study of Indian traditionalists on the Vedic literature, beginning from Veda Vyasa to Sayana and other acaryas including modern saint-scholars. It also views researches of the Western scholars and historians who have critically studied various aspects of the Vedic corpus. It conducts an in-depth exploration of the commentaries on the Vedas, focusing on noted traditional Vedic commentators like Yaska, Jaimini, Kumarila Bhatta, Sayana and Mahidhara as also the modern Indian commentators including Swami Dayananda, S.D. Satavalekar, Sri Aurobindo, Devi Chand, Sriram Sharma and the Western commentators like H.H. Wilson, F. Max Müller, R. Roth, A. Weber, W.D. Whitney, A.B. Keith, and R.T.H. Griffith.
The volume deliberates on definition of the Vedas, division of the Vedas and various shakhas of the five Samhitas as well as a list of Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyaka and Upanishad that are extant. It delves into details of the Rigvedic Mandalas and the Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda with reference to their subject matter, divisions and even their cultural value. It also examines the phenomenon of oral tradition, especially in conveying the Vedas and secret of preserving the Vedas – Vedic chanting. It has numerous illustrations that include maps, charts and pictures. -
Sale!Cinema Through Rasa ₹1,350.00
Cinema Through Rasa discusses the important works of the world cinema in the light of Rasa Siddhānta of the Indian classical aesthetics. Rasa Siddhānta was first mentioned in Bharata Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra – the ancient treatise on dramaturgy. This book catalogues the major cinematic works in the light of Abhinavabhāratī – a tenth-century commentary on the Nāṭyaśāstra by the great Kashmiri Śaivite philosopher Abhinavagupta. Further, it outlines the links between puruṣārtha, the cultural value system of life pursuits in Indian tradition, and aesthetics while citing examples from the works of major directors such as Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky, Alfred Hitchcock, Carl Dreyer, Charlie Chaplin, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Bresson and Satyajit Ray.
Using contemporary scholars’ interpretation of non-dualistic Kashmir Śaivism tradition, Cinema Through Rasa aims to serve as a tribute to Abhinavagupta’s genius, a commentary on important ideas such as rasa, nature of emotions, cinema and beauty along with a tryst with the masterpieces of the world cinema. The meaning of this book is summarized by this verse – na hi rasād r̥te kaścid arthaḥ pravartate – the medium of cinema, though modern, should be seen as resting in the power of rasa without which nothing makes any sense.
This book is a translation of the original Hindi book Abhinava Cinema, which was first published in 2016. Abhinava Cinema was lauded as innovative, path-breaking and a must-read for students of literature and cinema studies by scholars and critics. -
Sale!Ramayana Culture ₹720.00
These essays, originally presented at an international conference, are in the forefront of the modern response to an ancient work that has gained a new critical and social relevance in contemporary scholarship. Approaching the Ramayana from several angles in an attempt to understand its aesthetic and ideological meaning, they examine the epic through the perspectives of textual criticism, art, architecture and film. Thereby they address critical issues such as the seminal status of Valmiki, the underlying problem of canonicity itself, the importance of other — so-called derivative — Ramayanas, the implications of gender representation, and the cultural manipulation of social ideals relating to the position of women and the idealisation of love that achieves its highest value in marriage. Using the methods of rigorous textual and historical investigation, each essay seeks not only to uncover the layers of meaning in the complex structure of the epic in its varied forms but also to situate it critically in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia.
