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REL131’s Blog
Students have been researching, reading, re-reading, and re-researching topics related to Ram, the Ramayana, and the broader field of religion. This blog serves as their final assignment: taking in-depth research on specific topics and making them accessible to a public audience. Please visit our About page for more details.ALL POSTS
Category Archives: student
Hindu Images; Use and Misuse in Western Culture
Western fascinations with Hinduism’s “exotic” culture extends all the way back to the very first European colonizers, and is just, if not more prominent now that globalization is on the rise. We live in a world of constant cross-cultural exchange. … Continue reading
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Tagged Cultural Appropriation, Ganesh, Hinduism, Imagery, Newsweek, Religious Imagery, Shiva, Urban Outfitters
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The Uses and Meanings of Color in the Ramayana
The use of imagery in any great epic is not accidental. Especially in such a visual and tangible culture as that of India, the use of any color was carefully chosen for the sensation it would induce in the reader … Continue reading
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Tagged aesthetic, art, color, color meaning, Epics, Hindu epics, Hinduism, India, Linda Biafore, Rama, Ramayana, rasa, REL131, student research, UVM, visuality
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Human Animals
The, Ramayana, by Valmiki is a sacred Hindu text that is known throughout the world for a multitude of reasons, but the main reason being that it is entertaining for both Hindus and non- Hindus to read. In numerous Hindu texts … Continue reading
Using Sita to Identify Ideal Behaviors in Women
The original portrayal of Sita in the Ramayana is from a very different era of time, yet the role of Sita has been able to move across these differences to still connect with people. Sita’s applicability to women is not … Continue reading
God, Plant and Preparation
Soma: the Lost Hindu Entheogen in a Social Context For centuries, soma has been a compelling mystery to Western scholars and, drawn by the allure and mystique stemming from their conception of the religious purpose of intoxicants, they then proceeded … Continue reading
A Bow Strung ‘Round the World
Epics serve as a cultural foundation for those cultures that have embraced this tradition. Their continued modernized retellings and archetypal characters promote a homogenized culture. In the Hindu epic The Ramayana, Rama himself is often understood to be the archetypal … Continue reading
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Tagged Amar Chitra Katha, Epics, Identity construction, Ramayana, student research
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Colorism Within Ramayana Traditions
Although colorism within Ramayana traditions was not a unit our class covered extensively, a few articles and some class discussions mentioned issues of colorism in the epic. Below, I will speak to colorism within the Ramayana as well as some of … Continue reading
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Tagged Amar Chitra Katha, colorism, Gender, India, Ramayana, Skin Lighteners
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Interpreting the Ramayana as a Means of Creating and Defining Tradition
A reader of Valmiki’s Ramayana stumbles upon instances of questionable moral behavior from each character with alarming frequency. Yet these same characters obtain the absolute devotion of countless Indians across Hindu traditions. How do we as readers outside of the … Continue reading
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A Crime of Passion for the Sake of Honor: Using the Ramayana as a Source
Recently in the news: a father in New Delhi, India surrendered to the police because he tortured and then proceeded to murder the man who allegedly raped his 14-year-old daughter; he took matters into his own hands, as opposed to … Continue reading
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Tagged India in the news, issues with gender, REL131, sexual violence, student research, UVM
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The Role of Skin Tone in the Ramayana and Indian Culture
The Ramayana is a widely acknowledged holy text in India with many new interpretations, adaptations, and depictions arising throughout the years, including children’s books, comic books, films, and television programs, each of which have audiences spanning from thousands to millions … Continue reading
Managing Sita
Sita (popular heroine of the Ramayana), as I understand her, is no more than a woman who is desperately in love with her husband. Personally, I think we have all seen the consequences and joys that come to those who will do and/or sacrifice anything for … Continue reading
Complications Within a Feminist Sita
Sita is often heralded as the ideal woman, the ideal wife, and the ideal mother. A monumental and intimidating character, she is almost more central to the Ramayana than Rama himself. She is the mother of Rama’s children, and cares … Continue reading
The Legitimacy of Same-Sex Love in Hinduism
Many of the major religions that have been largely active and influential in the world have heteronormativity and heterosexism as written and working inner parts. Hinduism cannot be fully be included, though within its myths and literature such social constructions … Continue reading
Images of Sita Empower Contemporary Sitas
by Maeve Herrick The treatment and portrayal of Sita throughout the Ramayana is troubling. Sita is devoted to Rama, but at the end of the epic, Rama mistreats Sita by doubting her chastity and exiling her (Buck 390-394). The end of the Ramayana is … Continue reading