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CULTURAL FUSION IN A RELIGIOUS DANCE DRAMA: BUILDING THE SACRED BODY IN THE MANIPURI RĀSLĪLĀS By RODNEY SEBASTIAN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 1 © 2019 Rodney Sebastian 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my chair Vasudha Narayanan for the continuous support of my Ph.D study related research and for her patience, motivation, and encouragement. Her guidance and persuasion helped me in framing my main argument for my dissertation. Her ideas about the nexus between Hindu traditions, body knowledge and dance shaped my conceptual approach in this study. My sincere thanks also go to the members of my dissertation committee, Sohini Ray, Jonathan Edelmann, Robin Wright and Joan Frosch. Sohini Ray introduced me to the world of Manipuri dancers residing in Calcutta, Mumbai and Delhi. She communicated with me on how to express the movements, gestures, and body knowledge of the Manipuri rāslīlās in a way that was accurate and at the same time reflective of my personal experiences. Jonathan Edelmann’s feedback, recommendation and guidance on the use of textual sources, especially the literature related to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology and dramas enriched the textual research of my dissertation. By taking courses with Robin Wright, I learned many theories and concepts related to religious performances which I utilized in my dissertation. I am also grateful to Joan Frosch for her advice on researching and writing about dance. Without they precious support it would not be possible to conduct this research. Beyond my committee, I am especially indebted and grateful to Manuel Vasquez who coached me in the application of Bourdieu’s theory of structure and practices. His guidance and close reading of my work enabled me to analyze the Manipuri rāslīlās through a theoretical framework that enhanced my understanding of Manipuri culture and its relationship to dance. 3 I want to thank the academic staff and fellow graduate students in the University of Florida, Department of Religion for their support and the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for providing me funding for a semester while I worked on my dissertation. A special thanks to Annie Newman for providing excellent administrative support. I am also ever-grateful to the Manipuri scholars on rāslīlās, specifically Khangembam Khoni and Urmika Maibam who shared their knowledge about Manipur dance while I was in Manipur. While I was writing my dissertation, I constantly relied on them to verify my data and overcome my shortfall as someone who is not a dancer. I am also thankful to my Manipuri language teachers Sharatchandra Sharma and Ojhā Bhaktisiddhanta whom I met on a weekly basis while I was in Manipur in an effort t learn the language in a short time. I thank my hosts Ajit Dās and his family for keeping my wife and I protected and cared for during the duration of our stay. I am also grateful to Khomdram Surendra who introduced me to several artistes, scholars and teachers. I am indebted to Dr. Suresh for encouraging me to come to his house every week to discuss my research, for introducing me to several renowned artistes and scholars, and for lending me his books, especially the Cheitherol Kumpapa. There are several other people in Manipur and other parts of India, far too many to mention, but without whose help this dissertation would not have been complete. This includes the staff, teachers and students at Jawarharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Akademi and the Manipuri State Archives. My heartfelt thanks to them. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents for their support, patience and prayers. I am especially gratefuly to beloved wife, Tulasirani for not only providing me encouragement, moral and spiritual support but also for 4 accompanying me to Manipur, living in a culturally and physically unfamiliar environment and enduring the austerities of living without electricity, sometimes for days on end. She also helped me with the artwork in my dissertation and sacrificed her personal well-being and patiently waited for me to complete my dissertation. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 3 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 10 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 13 First Impressions .................................................................................................... 13 Background ............................................................................................................. 13 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ....................................................... 19 Significance ............................................................................................................ 31 Dance and Performance ......................................................................................... 35 Methods .................................................................................................................. 37 Outlines of Chapters ............................................................................................... 39 2 THE INDIGENOUS MEITEI RELIGION OF MANIPUR ........................................... 44 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 44 Sources ................................................................................................................... 45 Origins of the Meiteis .............................................................................................. 54 Religious Beliefs and Practices ............................................................................... 59 Meitei Gods ...................................................................................................... 61 Male-female principle ................................................................................. 65 Body metaphor ........................................................................................... 66 Nature gods and guardian deiteis .............................................................. 70 Sacred romantic stories ............................................................................. 72 Meitei Religious Practices ................................................................................ 74 Ritual sacrifices .......................................................................................... 75 Female dancers ......................................................................................... 78 Religious hierarchies .................................................................................. 80 Lai Haraoba ............................................................................................... 81 Contribution of Early Kings to Manipuri Rāslīlās ............................................... 96 Political developments ............................................................................... 97 Aesthetic developments ............................................................................. 98 3 EARLY HINDU CONTACT ................................................................................... 107 Background ........................................................................................................... 107 Names of Manipur ................................................................................................ 109 6 Trade, Migration, and Early Religious Contact ...................................................... 114 Initiation of Kings .................................................................................................. 123 Charairongba .................................................................................................. 123 Garibniwaz ..................................................................................................... 128 4 EMERGENCE OF THE RĀSLĪLĀ ......................................................................... 154 Bhāgyacandra ....................................................................................................... 154 Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Practices in Manipur ............................................................... 170 The First Rāslīlās .................................................................................................. 191 5 BHAKTI RASA IN THE MANIPURI RĀSLĪLĀ ....................................................... 215 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 215 Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Theology of Bhakti Rasa ......................................................... 216 Bhakti in Manipuri rāslīlās ..................................................................................... 235 6 AESTHETIC STRUCTURE OF THE MANIPURI RĀSLĪLĀS ................................ 242 Introduction ..........................................................................................................