Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world
16-20
July 2001 The University of Melbourne, Australia
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Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world |
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In India, the people construct the history of a Hindu temple with the help of a myth or legend. In different parts of India such stories interconnect localities with Hindu mythology and present a glorified representation of Brahminical Hinduism. Apart from the stories connected with high religion there are large number of legends that are not based on Hindu myths but on people’s beliefs and views. This paper examines such temple legends collected from Assam, a North-eastern state of India, to address this issue. These legends depict dialogic interaction between popular and high Hinduism and they are usually connected with small temples managed by the peasants. These legends present a theory of origin of the temples and their supernatural power. In these stories miraculous incidents get more importance and the Brahminical order or mythology receive little attention. Local characters play important roles in the legends and these stories have close connection with the folk religion and social structure.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | main abstract index | main congress page |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |