Browsing by Author "Dutta, S."

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A Monograph on the Elephant-Headed God Ganesha: The Mythological Concept and Distinct Iconography
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dutta, S.
A Monograph on the Elephant-headed God Ganesha: The Mythological Concept and Distinct Iconography
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dutta, S.
Ganesha is one of the most important deities of the Hindu pantheon. Worshipping him at the beginning of all the rituals has made him popular than many other divinities. He is widely revered as the ‘remover of obstacles’. He is worshipped all over India and commands such a distinguished position that it is essential to worship him before the commencement of every act considered good life, whether religious, social, cultural, academic or commercial. Ganapati is worshipped by both Vaishnavas (devotees of Vishnu) and Saivites (devotees of Shiva). Ganesha is the God of Good Luck and Auspiciousness and is the Dispeller of problems and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the God of wisdom, wealth, health, celibacy, fertility and happiness. The rise of Ganapatya sect was a significant departure from the traditional Saivism and it coincided with the rise of tantric form of worship in ancient India some time during the post Gupta period. Ganesha appears as a distinct deity in a clearly recognizable form beginning in the 4th to 5th centuries A.D., during the Gupta Period. Today, Ganesha is one of the most worshipped divinities in India. The devotion of Ganesha is widely diffused and it extends to Jains, Buddhists and others beyond India. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits, and explain his distinct iconography. There are various names, forms and incarnations of Ganesha in many Puranas. The idols and temples of Ganesha are found all over the world. The present paper will discuss the mythological concept of his birth and distinct symbolism of Ganesha cited in the Puranas.
Religious associations and development in India: a study of the Ramakrishna Mission
(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Dutta, S.
India has had a relatively long tradition of religious associations providing autonomous spaces of power, social and civic activism, which dates back to the birth of Buddhism and Jainism, followed by the medieval Bhakti and Sufi movements, through the plethora of socio-religious associations that had cropped up during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, until the ones that have emerged in the post-colonial era. Notwithstanding the fact that the fundamentalist and divisive politics of certain religious associations has led to several gory riots and the very partition of the country, many of them have played a pivotal role in ensuring that development remains inclusive, although, their role continues to be undermined in academic writings. Again, with the onset of the „LPG era‟ in India by the 1990s, that saw a roll back of the state mechanism, and the phenomenon of development taking a „participatory‟ turn following the 74th Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution, the gaps which evolved in service delivery are increasingly being filled up by civil society associations. In this context the proposed paper seeks to analyze the contribution of one of the most prominent religious philanthropic associations in India, the Ramakrishna Mission, in the field of development. Using the purposive and snow ball sampling techniques, the study interrogates the members of the Ramakrishna Mission, apart from the beneficiaries of some of its projects and a few state officials, to elucidate as to how a „traditional‟ association negotiates its existence within the paradigm of a „modern‟, bureaucratic and „secular‟ state. The study observes that through its emphasis on Practical Vedanta, the Ramakrishna Mission has made colossal contributions in the field of education, health, and relief work, rural and tribal development. In the ultimate analysis, the proposed paper compels one to rethink the relationship which religious associations share with the nebulous concepts of „development‟ on the one hand, and „civil society‟ on the other.