The concept of hero in Indian culture / edited by Heidrun Brückner, Hugh van Skyhawk, Claus Peter Zoller.

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Contributor:

Brückner, Heidrun, 1949-

Skyhawk, Hugh van.

Zoller, Claus Peter.

Universität Heidelberg. Südasien-Institut.

Conference Name:

Interregional Seminar on the Concept of Hero(-ine) in Indian Culture (1990 : South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg)

Series:

South Asian studies ; no. 44.

South Asian studies ; no. 44

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heroes in literature.

Folklore.

India--Civilization--Congresses.

India.

Civilization.

Indic literature--History and criticism--Congresses.

Indic literature.

Folklore--India--Congresses.

Heroes in literature--Congresses.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xv, 291 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Delhi : Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 2007.

Summary:

The concept of the hero (vira, sura nayaka) is of crucial importance in Indian civilization, from the Vedic to the present times. The authors of the papers in this volume include scholars of Indology, history, religion, literature, politics and anthropology. They explore the concept of the hero in written and oral sources, in different historical epochs and regions of India, from the Himalayas to the South. Most of the contributions were originally written for a seminar organised by Günther Dietz-Sontheimer at Heidelberg. He particularly stressed the continuities of the concept of hero in various realms of Indian culture, including folk religion. Strength, courage, fearlessness, self-confidence, righteousness, providing protection, special powers and feats, often a miraculous birth and a premature violent death, self-sacrifice or martyrdom are some of the features that heroes studied in the present volume share. Papers study 'The Birth of the Hero in Ancient India', including Vedic gods as well as the Jina and the Buddha (Bollée), 'Heroes and Kings' (Jansen), 'Kings as Heroes' in the Sanskrit carita literature (Thapar), and 'Himalayan heroes' (Zoller), as well as heroes in oral folk epics (van Skyhawk, Shankara-narayana),Tarnil folk narrative (Ferro-Luzzi), modern literature (Gatzlaff; Oesterheld) and Sanskrit drama (Byrski). Other papers deal with political leadership (Shelke), with Hanuman as Mahavira (Duncan) and 'From Sacrificer to Hero' (Sakharov). This is an indispensable volume for the scholars of Indian religion and culture.

Contents:

A note on the birth of the hero in ancient India / W.B. Bollée

The hero in Sanskrit drama / M. Christopher Byrski

Hanumān Mahāvīrasvāmī / Ian Duncan

Two clever heroes of Tamil folk narrative / Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi

Kālī: a hero between tradition and progress / Margot Gatzlaff

Hero and king / Roland Jansen

The frustrated hero / Christina Oesterheld

From sacrificer to hero / Peter D. Sakharov

The hero in the Junjappa epic / T.N. Shankaranarayana

Leadership in Maharashtra during the British Raj / Christopher Shelke

On heroes in the Karakoram / Hugh van Skyhawk

Of kings as heroes / Romila Thapar

Heroes in the Caritra-Bakhar, Povāḍā, and Ākhyāna of seventeenth and eighteenth century Mahārāṣṭra / N.K. Wagle

Himalayan heroes / Claus Peter Zoller

Notes:

"South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University"--P. facing t.p.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

8173047103

9788173047107

OCLC:

212626745