Ramayana stories in modern South India: an anthology

Abstract

Acknowledgments Transliteration and Translation NoteIntroduction: Whose Ramayana Is It?Part 1. Sita in ContextIntroduction 1. Asking Sita: The Questions Return, by Vijaya Dabbe (translated from Kannada by Shashi Deshpande and Pratibha Nandakumar) 2. Sartorial Dilemmas: Letters from Lady Sita, by Kumudini Ranganayaka Thatham (translated from Tamil by Paula Richman) 3. A Mother-in-Law's Support: Sita Locked Out, a women's folksong (translated from Telugu by Velcheru Narayana Rao) 4. Sita's Powers: Do You Accept My Truth, My Lord? a women's folksong (translated from Kannada by Leela Prasad) 5. Talking Back: Sita Enters the Fire, by Gudipati Venkata Chalam (translated from Telugu by Sailaza Easwari Pal) 6. The Pensive Queen: Sita Immersed in Reflection, by Kumaran Asan (translated from Malayalam by Rizio Yohannan Raj) 7. Choosing Music: Forest (excerpt), by Ambai (translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmstrom) 8. Forest of Possibilities: Reunion, by Volga (translated from Telugu by Krishna Rao Maddipati) 9. Union with Prakriti: Prakriti and Sovereignty in Aravindan's Kanchana Sita (film analysis by Usha Zacharias) 10. Struggling with Sita: In the Shadow of Sita, by Lalitha Lenin (translated from Malayalam by Rizio Yohannan Raj)Part 2. Stigmatized CharactersIntroduction 11. Transforming a Brahmin: Shudra Tapasvi (excerpt), by Kuvempu Kuppalli Venkata Puttappa (translated from Kannada by Girish Karnad and K. Marulasiddappa) 12. Staging Shambuka's Story: Basavalingaiah Re-presents Shudra Tapasvi (performance essay by Paula Richman) 13. From Stone to Woman and Back: Woman of Stone, by K. B. Sreedevi (translated from Malayalam by Gita Krishnankutty) 14. Consequences of a Curse: Deliverance from the Curse, by Pudumaippittan C. Virudhachalam (translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmstrom) 15. The Nature of Stone: Ahalya, by S. Sivasekaram (translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmstrom) 16. Domestic Abuse and the Neurologist: Ahalya, by N. S. Madhavan (translated from Malayalam from Rizio Yohannan Raj)Part 3. So-called DemonsIntroduction 17. Gender and Power Reversals: The Horns of the Horse, by C. Subrahmaniya Bharati (translated from Tamil by Paula Richman) 18. Male Rivalry and Female Sorrow: Shurpanakha's Sorrow, by Kavanasarma Kandula Varaha Narasimha Sarma (translated from Telugu by Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar) 19. Marriage Offers and a Makeover: Mappila Ramayana of Hassankutty (the Mad) collected by M. N. Karassery from the memory of the late T. H. Kunhiraman Nambiar (translated from Malayalam by John Richardson Freeman) 20. Sita Creates Ravana: The Portrait (excerpt), by H. S. Venkateshmurthy (translated from Kannada by Manu Shetty) 21. Ravana's Letter from Heaven: Come Unto Me, Janaki, by K. Satchidanandan (translated from Malayalam by Rizio Yohannan Raj) Epilogue: Meta-narrative 22. Everyone Has Anxieties: Lakshmana's Laugh, a Telugu women's song (translated from Telugu by Velcheru Narayana Rao)