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Ramayana
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A Ramayana? For the Mughals? So closed are our minds, and so firm our prejudices, that the two words would be seen by most people as if they contained a natural contradiction. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes about the Mughal version of Indian epics that were produced at and for the Mughal court in the…
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Mandodari is much more than just Ravana’s wife from Ramayana. Who was she? What are her origins? We explore the rich lattice of story-work that gives us a fascinating Mandodari, if not a definitive one. (Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)
Mandodari (one of the slender waist).
The name…
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In this interview, he discusses the nuances of khele and how it has changed in his lifetime.
Following is an edited transcript of the interview conducted in two parts—on January 14, 2018 in Oshi village and on October 13, 2018 over telephone. Originally in Marathi, it was translated into English…
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Khele is one of the many performance art forms from Konkan, the western coastal belt of India along Maharashtra. Performed by the Kunbi community of central Konkan in Ratnagiri district, khele (which traces its roots to the word khel, which means both play and a dramatic performance) is a three-…
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Gods and demons are summoned once a year on Shimga, the festival of Holi, in the Konkan belt of Maharashtra and Goa. Young boys and men perform roles of good and evil, beasts and birds, and women and men. Khele performances brighten the full moon nights of Holi Purnima as well as auspicious events…
in Module
For many, the characters in the Ramayana are essentially straightforward. Rama is the hero, Sita is the heroine and Ravana is the villain. However, those familiar with Hindu mythology would know there is nothing simple or linear about such epics. Here, we explore the different narratives that…
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Paithan Ramayana paintings are marked by colourful and innovative designs, and have a highly sophisticated visual language. The paintings were once carried around by bards known as chitrakathis, who used them while reciting the epic as they moved from village to village. Prof. B.N. Goswamy sheds…
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