RELI 388 - Cosmic Disruptions: Myths and Festivals in India

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as ASIA 388) Stories and celebrations interrupt our sense of time, ourselves, and the usual order of things. They scoop us out of everyday life, plunge us into something beyond ourselves, and invite us to rethink what has become familiar. In India, myths and festivals work together to create chaos from order and order from chaos—on human and celestial levels at once. This course explores the disruptive currents of major Hindu festivals and the myths that are connected with them. We ask: How do fiercely resourceful deities relate to their (often heroic, devoted) antagonists? How do profound expressions of grief and suffering run alongside joy and triumph in celestial realms and on earth? What are the many ways, subtle and overt, in which festivals and their myths upset the social order? How do large-scale rituals and narratives alike prompt us to see the earthly landscape of India from a cosmic perspective, allowing us to perceive rivers, cities, mountains, and animals as genuinely divine parts of our world? By way of investigating these broader questions, students examine a series of Hindu festivals from different regions of India that mark the lunar calendar—topics may include Onam, Navaratri, Annakut, Shivaratri, Holi, the Kumbh Mela, and the Aravan festival—and the myths that lay the groundwork for these disruptive, regenerative events. Nell Hawley.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS