One of the best-known and most revered of the ancient Indian epics is the Ramayana. The Ramayana is an ancient Hindu epic with significant cultural and religious importance in India and Southeast Asia. It is attributed to the sage Valmiki and is composed of about 24,000 verses divided into seven books, known as Kandas. The epic narrates the life and adventures of Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. Ramayana serves as an inspiration for this book. A well-known king, Lord Rama is also a wonderful person. Various poets have portrayed Ramayana in a variety of ways. The Ramayana is not just a story; it also includes significant moral, ethical, and spiritual aspects. This book contains the details of Dharma (Righteousness), dedication and allegiance, selflessness and sacrifice, reverence for elders and authorities, honor and integrity, bravery and tenacity, forgiveness and compassion are best captured in this book. For millions, the epic continues to be treasured and a source of inspiration and moral instruction.
This book is written for all lovers of the performing arts, especially those who love Kathakali, the dance drama of Kerala, the southern state in India. While other texts have been written about the history of the dance drama in English, this book uniquely brings in Shakespearean plays and characters, comparing them to the stories and characters in Kathakali to give it a completely new perspective.
We can hear Urumula Naganna’s drum roll during the rendition of the Sri Akammagaru Kaviya. An oral tradition which is as old as the hills is captured in the book Gods, Heroes and their Storytellers. Do you know the story of how the Madiga community came to inherit the right to skin cattle carcass and produce leather articles? How are contemporary Folk Oral Literatures connected to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata? There are many such stories and tradition bearers who doggedly go on in spite of the onslaught of the digital media. The author here has tried his best in keeping these traditions alive by not only telling the stories but also by living with the story tellers themselves. The rich details give us a window to a world which is not only very far away for our everyday mundane existence but also makes us retrospect on what we are missing out. Each of the tradition bearers are different and so are their stories and the region to which they belong. These are not merely stories but a way of life for these oral narrators who are fast disappearing in today’s consumerist landscape. The need of the hour is to keep alive these traditions and the tradition bearers.
This book demonstrates that people writing and creating characters almost 6,000 miles apart, and in different centuries, have a lot more in common than one might expect. It examines the day-to-day themes appearing in two epics, The Ramayanam and The Maha Bharatham, and some of Shakespeare’s plays (without entering into the realm of philosophy). The book reveals that whatever backgrounds people may have, they ultimately tend to tackle life in very similar ways, and this claim is substantiated with many pertinent examples. The perspectives presented in this book will be of interest to all who study literature.
Local/Global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century is the first book to investigate women artists working in disparate parts of the world. This major new book offers a dazzling array of compelling essays on art, architecture and design by leading writers: Joan Kerr on art in Australia by residents, migrants and visitors; Ka Bo Tsang on the imperial court in China; Gayatri Sinha on south Asian artists; Mary Roberts on harem portraiture of the Ottoman empire; Griselda Pollock on Parisian studios; Lynne Walker on women patron-builders in Britain; S?shy;ghle Bhreathnach-Lynch and Julie Anne Stevens on Irish women artists; Ruth Phillips on souvenir art by native and settler women; Janet Berlo on North American textiles; Kristina Huneault on white settler identity in Canada; Charmaine Nelson on neo-classical sculpture in North America; and Stacie Widdifield on Mexico. This pioneering collection addresses issues at the heart of feminist and post-colonial studies: the nature of difference, discrepant modernities and cross-cultural encounters. Written in a lively and accessible style, this lavishly illustrated volume offers fresh perspectives on women, art and identity. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of women artists and the art of the nineteenth century.
Old Malayalam film songs are wonderful. Most of them lend a most mesmerising sensation to the hearer. The style and tone has been set and led by Vayalar Ramavarma. Such others as P Bhaskaran, Sree Kumaran Thampi, and others have more or less tried to equal him in calibre. However, with the demise of Vayalar, there was no compelling standards or parameters to which film songs could remain loyal to. Standards deteriorated. There were attempts to cover the defects with loud music, and boisterous sounds. Now, what is so great about these songs? They convey a most elevated feel to the human psyche. In feudal Malayalam, everything has to remain in various social and mental levels. Starting from that of extreme lowliness to the heights of divine attainments. These songs generally lend a very ennobled aura to the human beings. There is the chakravartinis, salabanjigagas, rajashilpis, ajantha shilpams, anthapurams, agraharams, rathisukasares, mayalokams, manoharinis, anuraghapaurnamis and much else. Then there are the thenivarikkakaad, and such other exotic sounding places. However, the reality of Kerala life is much more mundane. It has no connection with the sweet dreamlike world depicted in the songs, which more or less make use of Sanskrit words and usages with gay abandon. The reality of communication in Kerala is rough, and tough, and possibly uncouth to those one does not respect or revere. Here everything comes with a string of respect versus pejorative codes connected to financial and social status; and also to age (currently).
One of the most critically acclaimed directors after Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan occupies a unique space in the world of cinema. His life intertwining with his art, and his art drawing upon real people and real lives, Gopalakrishnan’s cinema turns the mundane into the magical, the commonplace into the startling. In Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Life in Cinema, the first authorized biography of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, Gautaman Bhaskaran traces the ebbs and flows of the life of this enigmatic director. From his birth during the Quit India movement to his lonely childhood; from his belief in Gandhian values and life at Gandhigram to his days and nights at the Pune Film Institute; and from his first film, Swayamvaram, to his latest and long-awaited, Pinneyum, Bhaskaran’s lucid narrative tracks the twists and turns of Gopalakrishnan’s life, revealing an uncommon man and a rare auteur.
"Akashvani" (English) is a programme journal of ALL INDIA RADIO, it was formerly known as The Indian Listener. It used to serve the listener as a bradshaw of broadcasting ,and give listener the useful information in an interesting manner about programmes, who writes them, take part in them and produce them along with photographs of performing artists. It also contains the information of major changes in the policy and service of the organisation. The Indian Listener (fortnightly programme journal of AIR in English) published by The Indian State Broadcasting Service, Bombay, started on 22 December, 1935 and was the successor to the Indian Radio Times in English, which was published beginning in July 16 of 1927. From 22 August ,1937 onwards, it used to published by All India Radio, New Delhi. From 1950,it was turned into a weekly journal. Later, The Indian listener became "Akashvani" (English ) w.e.f. January 5, 1958. It was made fortnightly journal again w.e.f July 1,1983. NAME OF THE JOURNAL: AKASHVANI LANGUAGE OF THE JOURNAL: English DATE, MONTH & YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 5 OCTOBER, 1980 PERIODICITY OF THE JOURNAL: Weekly NUMBER OF PAGES: 60 VOLUME NUMBER: Vol. XLV, No. 43 BROADCAST PROGRAMME SCHEDULE PUBLISHED (PAGE NOS): 7-24, 37-56 ARTICLE: 1.Conserving For Survival: Sources Of Energy 2.How Minerals Shaped The Mankind ? 3.Life And The People Across The Rohtang Pass 4.Acupuncture : Theory and Technique 5. Preparing New Generation For Challenges Ahead 6. What Can An Engineer Do for The Village ? AUTHOR: 1. Maheshwar Dayal 2. T. C. Ganesh 3. K.C. Pandey 4. Dr. A. Krishnamurti 5. Dr. C. L. Anand 6. Dr. B. S. Samaga Document ID : APE-1980 (S-D) Vol-III-02 Prasar Bharati Archives has the copyright in all matters published in this “AKASHVANI” and other AIR journals. For reproduction previous permission is essential.
As the title indicates, this book is a critical study of an Indian epic, ëThe Ramayanaí. It proceeds in the same order as that of Sanskrit original consisting of : Bala kanda, Ayodhya kanda, Aranya kanda, Kishkindha kanda, Sundara kanda, Yuddha kanda and Uttara kanda. While Valmikiís Ramayana is composed of about 24,000 slokas (verses), ëRamayana the Poisonous Treeí consists of 16 stories, long and short, accompanied by 11 ëlinksí (narratives that ëlinkí the stories) and 504 foot-notes that show evidence from the Sanskrit original in support of the critique. Besides the main components of the text, this book has a long ëPrefaceí discussing the social essence of the epic in the context of history of evolution of human society from the ancient times to the modern times. The book also offers a critical review of the works of ësome earlier critics of Ramayanaí. The authoress describes Ramayana as a Poisonous Tree because it defends the autocratic rule of the kings against the people, their imperial expansion by invading other weak kingdoms, exploitation of the poor by the rich, oppression of lower castes by upper castes, aggression of the civilized non-tribal communities against primitive tribal communities, male chauvinism against women, superstitious beliefs against the rational thinking, fathersí domination over sons, elder brothersí superiority over younger brothers and so on. She substantiated her arguments by providing hundreds of foot notes from the Sanskrit original. She characterizes the culture of Ramayana as predominantly ëfeudalí in nature with an admixture of remnants of primitive ëtribalí culture. The book, it is hoped, will be of interest to both academic and non-academic circles. It is relevant to the students, teachers and researchers who are connected with such disciplines as South Asian Studies, Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Comparative Religions, Indology, Literary Criticism and so on. It is also relevant to the social and political activists who would like to disseminate ëprogressiveí ideas among the people who are subjected to various forms of inequality: Class, Caste, Gender, Race, Ethnicity. Ranganayakamma (born 1939) is a writer of novels, stories and essays in Telugu. She has published about 60 books.
