Conference Programme. CONNECTING CULTURES: Rāmāyaṇa Retellings in South India and Southeast Asia

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Conference Programme. CONNECTING CULTURES: Rāmāyaṇa Retellings in South India and Southeast Asia"

Jeffry Little
5 years ago
Views:

India and Southeast Asia Conference Programme Rāma,

1 International Conference, Bengaluru September 13-15, 2017 CONNECTING CULTURES: Rāmāyaṇa Retellings in South India and Southeast Asia Conference Programme Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa and golden deer (Mārīca), Virūpākṣa, Paṭṭadakal 1

Bengaluru, September 13-15, 2017 CONNECTING CULTURES: RĀMĀYAṆA RETELLINGS IN SOUTH INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Śūrpanakhā appears before

Pillar detail from the interior of Virūpākṣa temple, Paṭṭadakal, c. 745 C.E. Conference Conveners Prof. S.

2 Prof. D.S. Achuta Rao Centenary Program and School of Arts and Humanities, REVA University, Bengaluru present an International Conference, Bengaluru, September 13-15, 2017 CONNECTING CULTURES: RĀMĀYAṆA RETELLINGS IN SOUTH INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Śūrpanakhā appears before Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā in the forest grove; Mutilation of Śūrpanakhā. Pillar detail from the interior of Virūpākṣa temple, Paṭṭadakal, c. 745 C.E. Conference Conveners Prof. S. Settar, Emeritus Professor, NIAS, Bengaluru Dr. Parul Pandya Dhar, Associate Professor, University of Delhi DSA Centenary Convener: Dr. D.A. Prasanna Executive Secretary: Dr. Payel Dutta Chowdhury, Director, School of Arts and Humanities, REVA University Venue: REVA University, Rukmini Knowledge Park, Kattigenahalli, Yelahanka, Bangalore

3 Conference Theme The Rāmāyaṇa epic is an integral part of the cultural imagination of the South and Southeast Asian people. While Vālmīki s Rāmāyaṇa is largely accepted as the earliest available detailed record of this epic, there are numerous, rich and varied, retellings of this epic across South and Southeast Asia. These epic retellings cross many a boundary temporal, regional, and sectarian. In South India, the sculptural narratives carved on the Early Western Caḷukya temples in northern Karnataka are among the earliest visual representations of the Rāmāyaṇa, followed by those carved on monuments belonging to the period of the Pallava, Pāṇḍya, Rāṣṭrakūṭa, Cōḷa, Later Cāḷukya, Hoysaḷa, Vijayanagara and post- Vijayanagara kingdoms, among others. A range of local texts, oral and performative traditions in specific socio-cultural contexts appear to have inspired these regional renditions. Since the early historic period, the epic travelled along maritime and overland routes and reinvented itself in various parts of Southeast Asia, be it the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa of Central Java, the Ramakien of Thailand, the Reamker of Cambodia, the Malay Hikayat Seri Rama, or the Balinese Ramayana and several others. Rāmāyaṇa sculptures and paintings adorn the walls of temples and palaces across Southeast Asia and the epic continues to be performed in the dance and theatre traditions of South and Southeast Asia to this day. This conference will focus on retellings of the Rāmāyaṇa in the literary, visual and performance traditions of South India and Southeast Asia under the following broad rubrics to understand the varied ways in which the Rāmāyaṇa has been told and retold in changing contexts across South India and Southeast Asia: 1. Literary and Allied Cultures 2. Performance Cultures 3. Visual Cultures Sculpture and Painting The distinguished conference delegates invited to participate in this international conference are well-known scholars from different parts of the globe USA, Canada, UK, Paris, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and India who will present the most updated research and deliberate upon the epic connections between South India and Southeast Asia. - S. Settar and Parul Pandya Dhar 3

4 SEPTEMBER 13, 2017, 7 to 9 pm RECEPTION for conference delegates and special invitees hosted by Shri Indrajit Ghorpade & family at REVA University Guest House SEPTEMBER 14, 2017, 9:00-9:30 am INAUGURAL SESSION Inauguration of Exhibition Dr. S.Y. Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, REVA University Inauguration of the Conference Prof. Baldev Raj, Director, National institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, presided by Dr Shyamaraju, Chancellor, REVA University, Bengaluru Welcome Prof. S. Settar, Convener and Emeritus Professor, NIAS, Bengaluru Prof. D.S. Achuta Rao: A Profile Dr. D.A. Prasanna, Convener, DSA Centenary Program 4

5 SCHEDULE OF ACADEMIC SESSIONS SEPTEMBER 14, 2017, 9:00-9:30 am Session 1 Literary and Allied Cultures 9:30 am am Chair: Prof. Paula Richman 1. Prof. Vanamala Viswanatha, Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Rāmāyaṇa Retellings in the Classical Canon of Kannaḍa Literature 2. Mrs. Malini Saran, Independent Scholar, New Delhi. Discourse on Governance and Ethics as a lietmotif in the Rāmāyaṇas of Java 3. Prof. Chirapat Prapandvidya, Silpakorn University, Bangkok Thai Rāmakien: Its Close Links with South India Tea: 11:00-11:30 am 11: 30 1: 30 pm Chair: Prof. Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof 4. Dr. A.J. Thomas, Author and translator, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Ādhyātma Rāmāyaṇaṃ Kilippāṭṭu of Tunchat Ezhuttachan: The Foremost Malayalam Bhakti Text 5. Prof. Krishna Murthy Hanuru, Kannada scholar and writer, Mysore. From Palace to Streets: Many Rāmāyaṇas from the Bylane 6. Mrs. Mary Brockington, University of Oxford, Oxford. From Kanauj to Laos: Development of the Floating Maiden episode in the Southeast Asian Rāma tradition (presented by Dr. Gauri Parimoo-Krishnan) 7. Prof. Do Thu Ha, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Localizing India s Values of the Rāmāyaṇa in Southeast Asia the case of the Malay Hikāyat Seri Rāma Lunch: 1:30 2:30 pm (hosted by MTR group of hotels, Bengaluru) 5

6 Session 2 Performance Cultures: Theatre, Dance, and Oral Traditions 2:30-4:00 pm Chair: Prof. S. Settar 8. Prof. Paula Richman, Oberlin College in Ohio, USA. Ravana Center-Stage: Motivations of a Rakshasa Monarch 9. Prof. Purushottama Bilimale, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The Making of Rāmāyaṇa in the Yakṣagānas of Coastal Karnataka 10. Prof. Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. The Rāmāyaṇa of the Malay Shadow Play, Wayang Kulit Kelantan, and its possible parallels and connections with the epic versions in northern Southeast Asia Tea: 4:00 4:30 pm 4: 30 6:30 pm Chair: Prof. Vanamala Viswanatha 11. Ms. Cheryl Thiruchelvam, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia. Expressions of the Ramayana Epic in Malaysian Arts 12. Mr. Sirang Leng, Silpakorn University, Bangkok. Reamker Performance in Khmer Society 13. Dr. Phan Anh Thu, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam. Riemke Performance in the Khmer Villages: Untold Stories 14. Dr. Thomas Hunter, University of British Columbia, Vancuover. Mabasan Rāmāyaṇa, a Continuous Retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa in Bali (presented by Dr. Parul Pandya Dhar) Tea: 6:30 pm Dinner 8:00 pm (hosted by MTR group of hotels, Bengaluru) 6

7 DAY 2: SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 Session 3 Visual Cultures: Sculpture and Painting 10 am 11:30 am Chair: Dr. A.J. Thomas 15. Dr. Valérie Gillet, Ecole Français d Extrême Orient, Paris. The Rāmāyaṇa in the Pallava and Pandya Archaeological and Epigraphic Material 16. Dr. Parul Pandya Dhar, University of Delhi, Delhi. The Rāmāyaṇa in the Western Chalukyan Deccan, c. 6 th to 8 th centuries 17. Prof. S. Settar, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Rāmāyaṇa narratives from the Hoysaḷas to Vijayanagara Tea: 11:30 12 noon 12 noon 1:30 pm Chair: Dr. Chirapat Prapandvidya 18. Prof. Sharada Srinivasan, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Rāmāyaṇa Bronzes and Sculpture from the Coḷa to Vijayanagara Times 19. Dr. R.K.K. Rajarajan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The Rāmāyaṇa Paintings of the Māliruñcōlai Temple: Nationalism under the spell of Regionalism 20. Dr. Shiva Aruni, Director, Indian Council of Historical Research. Narrative Sculptural Art of Ramayana During the Post-Vijayanagara Period in Karnataka Lunch: 1:30 2:30 pm (hosted by MTR group of hotels, Bengaluru) 2:30 5:00 pm Chair: Dr. Parul Pandya Dhar 21. Prof. John Brockington, University of Oxford, Oxford. Stone, Wood, Paint: Rāma Story Representations Throughout Southeast Asia (presented by Dr. Rachel Loizeau) 7

8 22. Dr. Gauri Parimoo-Krishnan, Art Historian and Curator, Singapore. Mighty Messenger: Adaptation and Localisation of Hanumān and the Rāmāyaṇa in Southeast Asia 23. Dr. Rachel Loizeau, Université Catholique de l'ouest at Angers, France. Rāmāyaṇa retold in Khmer sculpture with special reference to the Yuddhakāṇḍa (10 th -12 th centuries) 24. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam Anh Robam of Khmer Ethnicity in Southern Vietnam: Case Study in Soc Trang Province Vote of Thanks: Dr. Parul Pandya Dhar, University of Delhi Tea: 6:30 pm (hosted by MTR group of hotels, Bengaluru) Cultural Programme: 7:00 pm (hosted by Shri D. Prasanna, DSA Centenary Program) Floral tribute to Prof. Achuta Rao by Dr. Baldev Raj, Director, NIAS, Bengaluru, Dr. Shyamaraju, Chancellor, REVA University, Bengaluru, and Dr. S.K. Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor, REVA University, Bengaluru. and Felicitation of the students of Prof. Achuta Rao by Shri D.A. Prasanna and family followed by Ramanubhavam Dance performance by Mrs. Madhu Nataraj and Troupe Conference Dinner (hosted by Ms. Hema Malini, MTR Group of Hotels, Bengaluru) 8

9 Acknowledgements Prof. D.S. Achuta Rao Centenary Programme School of Arts & Humanities, REVA University, Bengaluru Ms. Hema Malini, MTR Hotels, Bangalore Mr. & Mrs. Indrajit Ghorpade, 'Hindurao', Gajendragadkar Mr. Bharat Mehta, Barton Son & Co. Pvt. Limited Cover Photo Parul Pandya Dhar 9

Ram Lila (Dr. Arun Verma) Dec. 2010

Ram Lila (Dr. Arun Verma) Dec. 2010 Jai Shri Ram! Background: Lord Ram is the seventh avatar of Vishnu. The King of Ayodhya. Born in Raghuvanshi dynasty. He is the Mryada Purshottam, Lord of virtue. The