A series of four weekly lectures focusing on the celebrated Indian epic, Ramayana. Particular reference will be made to the Srivaishnava commentary 'Bhushana', composed by the Govindaraja in the 16th century. Lectures will be useful for students preparing papers in the study of Hinduism, and no background knowledge of Hinduism or the Ramayana is required.
Recitation from sacred texts including the Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata was a crucial part of ritual activities at temples further reinforced by representations of themes from literature in narrative panels on temple walls. The most sustained visual narrative based on the Valmiki Ramayana dates from 5th to 8th centuries and is to be found on the Visnu temple at Deogarh dated to 425 AD, the contemporary temple at Nachna, as well as in the Deccan on the Durga, Papanatha and Virupaksa temples at Aihole – Pattadakal and at the Kailasa temple at Ellora.
