Religions of South India: Narratives and Ritual Performance

Catalog description

This course focuses on a diverse set of devotional practices and narratives in South India. We begin with a basic introduction to various texts and ritual practices as related to South India’s major religions including Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. We read the primary sources in English translation and perform a close reading of these texts and their historical contexts. We understand how traditions work and their transformations during different periods of history starting with classical, medieval and modern times. This class encourages to engage with the larger interpretive frameworks of religious, cultural and literary studies with an emphasis on the analysis of various core ideas of devotionalism.