Bengal is a riverine plain which produces abundant rice and fish. These two items are important foods of the Bengalis. Fishing has always been an important occupation and Bengali literature contains several references to fish. What is more, terracotta plaques on the walls of temples and viharas depict scenes of fish being dressed and taken …
Pirs were spiritual leaders having supernatural powers. They also functioned as teachers and adjudicators. When early settlers in Bengal sought some order and assurance in the unstable conditions of the new settlements pirs favoured them and gave them full moral support. People viewed them as respectful figures. The cult of pirs became very popular and …
Who were the pirs? What was their position in society? Read More »
There are two categories of early Bengali literature: The first includes translations of the Sanskrit epics, the Mangalakavyas, auspicious poems, dealing with local deities, and Bhakti literature such as the biographies of Chaitanyadeva, the leader of the Vaishnava Bhakti movement. The second includes Nath literature such as the songs of Maynamati and Gopichandra, stories concerning …
Miniatures are small-sized paintings, generally done in water colour on cloth or paper. The earliest miniatures were on palm leaves or wood. The Mughal emperors especially Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan patronised highly skilled painters. These painters primarily illustrated manuscripts containing historical accounts and poetry. These were generally painted in brilliant colours and portrayed court …
How did miniature painting develop under the Mughal patronage? Read More »
Six classical dances are : Kathak (North India) Bharatnatyam (Tamil Nadu) Kathakali (Kerala) Odissi (Orissa) Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh) Manipuri (Manipur).
Sometimes these stories depict women as the cause for conflict, as men fought with one another to either win or protect them (women). Women are also depicted as following their heroic husbands in both life and death. We are familiar with the stories about the practice of sati or the immolation of widows on the …
How are women depicted in the stories about Rajput heroes? Read More »
Regional cultures today are often the product of complex processes of intermixing of local traditions with ideas from other parts of the sub-continent. Some traditions appear specific to some regions, others seem to be similar across regions and yet others derive from older practices in a particular area, but take a new form in other …
The temple theatre of Kerala borrowed stories from the Sanskrit epics. The first literary works in Malayalam, dated to about the 12t.h century, are directly indebted to Sanskrit. The Lilatilakam, a fourteenth-century text, dealt with grammar and poetics and was composed in Manipravalam – literally, ‘diamonds and corals’ referring to the two languages namely Sanskrit …
How did the Cheras draw upon Sanskritic traditions? Read More »
The Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram was established in the ninth century in the south-western part of the peninsula, part of present-day Kerala. It is likely that Malayalam was spoken in this area. The rulers introduced the Malayalam language and script in their inscriptions.
It is a thirteenth-century Sanskrit text from Bengal.
