This study offers a socio-historical analysis of three selected chapters of the Prapannāmṛtam, a hagiography composed by Anantārya most probably in the 17th century. The aim of the present research...Show moreThis study offers a socio-historical analysis of three selected chapters of the Prapannāmṛtam, a hagiography composed by Anantārya most probably in the 17th century. The aim of the present research is that of showing how the socio-political and religious affiliation of the author can be identified as the main force which led to the composition of chapters 123-125, here under analysis. Anantārya is a proud member of the decayed Tātācāryas, a family of raja-gurus which had dominated the political and religious scene of Vijayanagara between the 14th and 16th century: Prapannāmṛtam 123-125 might, in this sense, be read as a praśasti (eulogy) of the glorious past of the family, expressed through the celebration of the miraculous events narrated in chapters 123-125. The political and religious strength of the family is put forth, in the narration, by the acts of two Tātācārya teachers, Nṛsiṃhārya and his younger brother: it is thanks to their actions that, in chapter 125, the religious conversion of king Virūpākṣa II and its subjects from Śaivism to Vaiṣṇavism takes place. Moreover, through the analysis of an alleged ‘a-historical’ hagiographic text, I introduced the issue of how, in the Indological context, the concepts of ‘history’ and ‘historiography’ should be revised in light of new, more fruitful, theories (e.g. Bloch 1949, Bulke 2001 and Corrao & Viola 2005).Show less
Textiles serve as a medium in the migration of cultural elements between civilizations since ancient times. This study seeks to investigate the migration of cultural aspects through textiles from...Show moreTextiles serve as a medium in the migration of cultural elements between civilizations since ancient times. This study seeks to investigate the migration of cultural aspects through textiles from India to Java between the first millennium and the eighteenth century, and from Java to Santiniketan, a town in Bengal, in the Indian subcontinent, in the early twentieth century. These regions shared an intriguing history of textile exchange during the periods mentioned. The case study will be a resist-dyed fabric called batik, which is popular in Bengal as well as Java, and the focus will lie on design elements such as motifs and patterns. Scholarly literature on the origin and evolution of batik in Java emphasize on the processes of ‘diffusion’, ‘adaptation’, and ‘acculturation’, while discussing foreign influences. These theories discuss the dissemination and the transformation of Indian foreign design elements in the recipient Javanese culture, but to a limited extent. In the case of Santiniketan batik, scholarly focus lies on describing batik as an indigenous tradition. Though Javanese inspiration is accepted, the transmission process from Java is not adequately dealt with. Interestingly, both in the case of Javanese batik and Santiniketan batik, foreign influences were transformed to an extent that they became ‘native’ in the local context. This thesis seeks to justify the significance of the process of ‘naturalization’, that is, the process of inclusion and transformation of foreign motifs and patterns in the context of the receiving culture to an extent that the original source of dissemination becomes of secondary importance.Show less
