The first Hindu temple we saw in SEA was at the Prambanan complex in Yogyakarta. I had not known that such mesmerising temples existed in Indonesia. In fact, Tara was very popular with her sari and her bindi. Many girls would surround her admiring her sari and call her Sinta and pose for photographs with her.
It made us feel proud that our Hindu culture had taken root in such a grand manner. Temples we saw in Prambanan, Borobudur and Angkor Wat were amazing. There are also Khmer temples in the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
Tara as a National Museum Volunteer in Bangkok would introduce the 'Hindu elements in Thai art!' in a talk to its members. There would certainly be volumes of research publications about the Hindu influences in SEA. I chanced upon this article, Rama Setu: Islam is our religion; Ramayana our culture, A Sea view of Rama Saturday October 6 2007 10:19 IST Dr S Krishnaswamy and Dr Mohana Krishnaswamy.
I quote a paragraph!
In all these time machine travels, the name “Rama” kept emerging everywhere.
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic nation, we discovered that Ramayana and Mahabharata are compulsory subjects in most of the universities. The Indonesian version of Ramayana is called Kakawin Ramayana in the old Javanese (Kawi) language. In the Indonesian version of Mahabharata, Draupathi has only one husband. At the famous 10th Century Prambanan temple in central Java, dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Ramayana is depicted in bas-relief in several parts. The sultan of Jogjakarta supports the daily performance of a leather puppet show of either Ramayana or Mahabharata in his Palace annexure. He also subsidizes the world’s only daily performance of a dance ballet based on Ramayana, performed with the Prambanan towers as its backdrop. The highlight of the extraordinary show is that all the two hundred artistes are Muslims. We ask the leading actors how they perform Ramayana with such ardent involvement. The spontaneous reply is: “Islam is our religion. Ramayana is our culture.”
At the same time they are free to interpret differently and in a movie "Opera Jawa", Nugroho takes an episode from the Ramayana about the abduction of Sinta, as Sita is known in Indonesia, and gives it a contemporary setting.
Nugroho's version has infuriated some Hindus in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, in part because it portrays the female lead as a strong, sexually wilful woman, quite unlike the virtuous Sita.
"In this story, the female character is repressed, like most women in Indonesia," said Nugroho.
"Both Rama and Ravana are extremely possessive. They expressed their love to Sinta through violence. It serves as a metaphor for the violence that takes place in every conflict."
But in India one has to be careful. Read about a case filed. http://creative.sulekha.com/three-hundred-ramayana-article-case-vice-chancellor-delhi-university-summoned-by-dera-bassi-court_399842_blog
Many Ramayanas - Three Hundred Ramayanas; Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” by A.K. Ramanujan.
In Three Hundred Ramayana, Legal Case against V.C. Delhi University has been summoned to face trial for the alleged commission of an offense punishable under Section 153_A, 295_A. and 298 of IPC, for 22.4.2009. This is an order against the complaint filed by Anil Bali in Dera Bassi Court on 13.6.2008, in the SUB DIVISIONAL JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE, DERA BASSI.
1) That this article contains abusive and libelous language used for Divine Hindu Deities by addressing Shri Hanuman as ‘Henchman’, ‘Tiny Monkey’ (page 22), Rishi Vishwamitra as ‘Man of Fire’ and ‘Hot-Headed Man’ (page 23, 25), ‘Unfaithful’ for Sita (page 44), termed Ramayana Stories as ‘Gasp’ (page 24) and said Rama with ‘Jealous Rage’ etc. This articles is very offending and the language used is disrespectful.
2) I felt humiliated and perturbed to read filthy comments made by quoting Santal Tribes in the article. I have checked various details in the literature of Santals and have found nothing of this kind with them. If at all this is found in any of their literature, it will be highly objectionable and will attract the penal action. The article is completely unauthentic, malice and furts the feelings of other persons. It is said in the article that; “The Santal, a tribe known for their extensive oral traditions, even conceive Sita as UNFAITHFUL- to the sock and horror of ANY HINDU bred on Valmiki and Kampan, she is seduced by both Ravana and by Laxamana”. The Santals have no such feelings and I have not found anywhere in their litrature. When we contacted them they were rather surprised to hear such type of feelings being mentioned on their behalf.....
.... It is well known Divine Belief of Hindus and they worship Maryada Parshotam Ram Chander of Valmiki, Tulsi, Kampan, Viyasa Rishi as in other Ramayanas.
I do not know if there was a verdict on this case, but the V.C. withdrew the book from the syllabus and a lot of heat was generated at a discussion panel on cable Tv.
It would be illuminating to read abstracts of the proceedings of International conference of Ramayana which are held all around the world. Some have been held since long.
There was a 25th International Ramayana Conference in Mysore from Nov 27.
Meerut | Monday, Nov 2 2009 IST
Raghunath said...
The A.K. Ramanujam episode is shameful. Hinduism passed through this phase before the Muslim invasion. It was at that time that the concept of 'mlecchha' crept in to a religion that had a history of assimilating its previous contacts. The petty quarrels that sapped the political fabric allowed the invading Muslim hordes to establish themselves for a millenium thereafter.
I hope we do not go that way again 24 February 2013 at 21:59 
.... It is well known Divine Belief of Hindus and they worship Maryada Parshotam Ram Chander of Valmiki, Tulsi, Kampan, Viyasa Rishi as in other Ramayanas.
I do not know if there was a verdict on this case, but the V.C. withdrew the book from the syllabus and a lot of heat was generated at a discussion panel on cable Tv.
It would be illuminating to read abstracts of the proceedings of International conference of Ramayana which are held all around the world. Some have been held since long.
There was a 25th International Ramayana Conference in Mysore from Nov 27.
Meerut | Monday, Nov 2 2009 IST
| This is how the website looked! But when when I copied the page and pasted, the picture on the left went missing. Then I took a picture. I am not sure whether I should send the picture to the lawyers and see what they do with it! 25th International Ramayana Conference in Mysore from Nov 27 |
I hope we do not go that way again
No comments:
Post a Comment