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Life of Myths in an Indian City: a Study of Situated Practices

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Life of Myths in an Indian City: a Study of Situated Practices Life of Myths in an Indian City: a study of situated practices Sandeep Chandra Ashwath PhD thesis 2013 University of Surrey Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences DWRC/Sociology ProQuest Number: 27558481 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest27558481 Published by ProQuest LLO (2019). Copyright of the Dissertationis held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 Dedicated to my parents Smt. Chandra Aswath and late Sri C. Aswath Abstract The aim of this study is to look at the “life of myths” in a specific locality in the South Indian city of Bangalore. The chosen locality of Basavanagudi (BSG) in the Southwest quarter of the old city area in Bangalore is home to innumerable temples, the oldest ones dating back to the sixteenth century, and resident properties that are more than a hundred years old. Hence most households have at least three generations living there currently. A majority of the study of myths in India until recently belonged to two broad categories; textual studies by indologists, philologists, Sanskritists and historians, and study of “local”, oral myths of select communities (tribes and rural) by folklorists and anthropologists. The former looks at classical and archaic mythology, while the latter looks at regional versions and folk traditions (some derived from classical roots). The latter follows the trend in western scholarship on myths that looks at “myths in social context” spearheaded by anthropologists like Bronislaw Malinowski and others. This study looks at regional myths in an urban locale with established religious sites situated within historical schools of thought and practice advocated in ancient classical scriptures. Hence it is an ethnographic study like the latter group but directed towards an urban community expressing “living” Hindu mythology. One of the prominent dimensions of the ‘context of myths’ in India is the set of practices that can be seen to constitute Hindu religious traditions. This study is informed by Michel de Certeau’s theory of practice to understand “everyday practice” of the residents of BSG concerning the sacred. Further, through a paradigm of place and space, this study explores the spatio-material context of myths, individual practice and interactions that suggest situated “use and transfer” of myths set against a historic tradition of inheritance and devolution. Bangalore is now at the centre of the relatively successful Indian IT industry, and is undergoing rapid social change. The locality of BSG is interesting as it lies in the old city area with a specific linguistic (Kannada) and cultural identity that dates back at least four centuries and also represents spaces and groups distanced from the rapid changes taking place elsewhere in the city. This study looks at “lived traditions” of Bangaloreans in the old city area who move within the bipolarities of the city negotiating changing lifestyles and spaces. It uses immersive fieldwork in the area of BSG, addressing issues through “ethnography at home” as I am a member of this community having been born and living in BSG. Acknowledgments I am extremely grateful to several people for helping me in completing this study. Firstly I would like to sincerely thank my supervisors Prof David Frohlich and Dr Geoff Cooper for seeing me through some of the most difficult times, for having the patience, providing the necessary guidance and being very encouraging. I would also like to thank Katharine Tyler and Jacqueline Suthren Hirst for their keen, insightful, invaluable advice and input in the final stages of the thesis. I am indebted to the department and staff at The Universiry of Surrey for their support in what became a prolonged research period, and being very helpful when I haven’t been in the U.K. I wish to thank all my friends in London for being extremely understanding, accommodative and extending unimaginable help and support. My special thanks to Diana, Jules, Ellie, Meghana, Aneez, Astrid, Anna and Shamik for offering a home for me in London in several periods of uncertainty. I am deeply indebted to Diana for offering much needed emotional support, for having faith in me and pushing me to finish this study and to Jules for his insights, patience and much needed help at crucial times. I would like to thank Anna Bhushan and Mr Kumar for helping me cope with some very difficult circumstances during the length of the project, and a special thanks to Kamini for her solid emotional and intellectual guidance in sustaining this task to its end. In India I couldn’t have done without the valuable support, encouragement and guidance from Prashant, Kalpana, Sukanya, Pavi, Shalini John, Susmita and Yashir. I am very grateful to Arati and Roy for helping me make the document presentable. I would like to thank my family for extraordinaiy patience, generosity and understanding without which this project could have never been completed. I am extremely fortunate to have had the love and incredible support of my parents, my sister Sahana and my brother-in-law Sanjay Simha through the prolonged process of completing this study. Finally I would like to extend my deep gratitude to the many participants in the study for letting me into their houses, giving me their valuable time and sharing their life stories with me. Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements.................................................................................................4 Maps 1 - 4............................................................................................................... 6-10 Images i - 5...............................................................................................................11-14 Chapter 1: Introduction......................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Myths in Social Context.................................................... ................27 Chapter 3: Methodology................................. ............................................ ......... 53 Chapter 4: Sacred Geographies -practiced place.......................................... 76 Section 1: BSG - a neighbourhood of temples.......................................... 79 Section 2: The public sacred place A. Religious sites (temples and institutions).....................................82 B. Religious sites, deities and residents............................................ 92 Section 3: The private sacred place........................................................... 100 Chapter 5: Sacred Spaces: corporeality and movement....................................113 Chapter 6: Inheritance and Devolution....................... .................................135 Section 1: Intergenerational interaction...................................................137 Section 2: The religiousutterances ..........................................................150 Chapter 7: Conclusions......................................................................................... 164 Appendix............................................................................................................. 1 177 Appendix................. 2 ........................................................................ .................. 179 References................................................................................................................183 M a p 1 # ' ' ... ' ' , « Residential ext- BuMt in 189# M a p 2 B m p zo m s iPP Basavanagudi M a p 3 SOUTH ZONE *W6 165 16g _ 172 170 ms# 177 176 IBS 7g6 / W 73 Kottegepalya 162 SunkenahalU 166 Karisandra 76 Shakthiganapati Nagar 163 Vishveshwara Puram 167 Yedi^r 101 Kamakshipalya 166 Siddipura 168 Pattabhiram Nagar 102 Vhshabhavathi Nagar 165 Hombegowda Nagara 169 Byrasandra 103 Kavenpura 166 Lakkasandra 170 Jayanagar East 126 HosahalW 151 Koramangala 171 Gurappanapaiya 125 MarenahaUi 152 Suddagunte Palya 172 Madiwala 126 NaruthiMandirWard 153 Jayanagar 176 BTM Layout 127 Mudalpalya 156 Basavanagudi 177 J P Nagar 132 Attiguppe 155 Hanumanth Nagar 178 Sarakki 133 Hampi Nagar 156 Srinagar 179 Shakambarinagar 136 Bapuji Nagar 157 Galianjenya Temple Ward 180 Banashankari Temple Ward 135 Padarayanapura 158 Deepanjali Nagar 181 Kumaraswamy Layout 136 Jagajivanaram Nagar 161 Hasaherehalli 182 Padmanabha Nagar 137 Rayapuram 162 Girinagar 183 Chikkalsandra 160 Chamrajpet 163 Katriguppe 185 Yelchenahalli 161 Azad Nagar 166 VidyapeetaWard 186 Jaraganahalli 165 Ganesh Mandir Ward M a p 4 170 . BASAVANAGUDI AC BRUHAT BANGALORE MAHANAG^RA PALIKE WARD : 154. BASVANAGUDI Â 3 4 _ BVOM..ROCK M I) Basavanagudi il | » ji ; I] i .j 2 8 i' ^ 2 2 7 2 6 «àj:c£.*iATids<.Ro«> 2 3 2 4 2 5 - ^ I e j I! 7TM d#oss_R g TATA FORM \—. J INDEX j " I PROPOSED WARD boundary i i| I RIVER/QRAIN RAILW AY UNE m m ^nofiN O . ubos $ m u > i m . b a t b . f i , o 7 . i m B R O A D *1 Map 4 Index Temples and Shrines In Basavanagudi (ward-154) 1. Sri Kamadhenu Kaipavriksha Devasthana 2. Sri Ishwara Ganapathi Devasthana
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