Parasurama en Kerala et dans la Region de Mahendragiri (Orissa)

Part of ’Vers une Histoire du Saivasiddhanta’ project

Objectives

Rama Jamadagnya, better known as Parasurama (" Rama with the axe "), is a complex figure of the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata - a Brahmin warrior who is both an avatar of Visnu and a devotee of Siva. Through the study of this character, the present research seeks to illustrate the complex relations of assimilation or rejection in the " great " pan-Indian Sanskrit tradition and the " little " local traditions that have become the subject of active Indological research for the last twenty years.

The project subsequently deals with the collation and analysis of the diverse modifications undergone by this epic myth in the context of two carefully selected geographical locations : mostly Kerala, the "country of Parasurama " (Parasurama-ksetra), where the traditions linked to him are especially rich, and secondly the region of the Mahendragiri mountains (south-east of Orissa), place of penance of Parasurama in the Sanskrit texts.

Materials and Methods

The methodology adopted is " plural " in the way it seeks to break away from the traditional boundaries between institutionalized disciplinary fields. Hence it is proposed to support the analysis of texts in classical Sanskrit (undertaken with the help of the scholarly pandits at the IFP), with epigraphic, iconographic, ritualistic or anthropological data.

The perspective, a clearly comparative one, involves the usage of various materials : texts written in sanskrit or in the vernacular languages (made available through translations), images, rituals, discussions with people who are either Indian scholars (mostly Keralites and Oriyas) or devotees of Parasurama. Field studies, prepared and carried out with the aid of the rich documentation ressources available at the IFP, make the ongoing collection of material possible.

Partners

• “Mondes Iranien et Indien” (UMR 2578), a research team involving scholars from Paris-III University, CNRS, INaLCO and EPHE.

Funding

• “Mondes Iranien et Indien” (UMR 2578)
• French Institute of Pondicherry

Team

Download research abstracts (.pdf)

• Dejenne, Nicolas, PhD student in Indology at the Université Paris-III, Paris. Former IFP Research Fellow. Thesis title : "Du Rama Jamadagnya épique aux Parasurama locaux. Etudes de cas".

• Director of thesis : Nalini Balbir, Professor, UFR " Orient et Monde Arabe ", Université Paris-III, Paris.

Main Outputs

• DEJENNE N., 2007a. Compte rendu du livre de Danielle Feller « The Sanskrit Epics’ Representation of Vedic Myths », Bulletin d’Etudes Indiennes (BEI), N° 22-23, 2004-2005 : pp. 634-639.

• DEJENNE N., 2007b. Compte rendu du livre de Gilles Chuyen « Who Is A Brahmin ? The Politics of Identity in India”, Bulletin d’Etudes Indiennes (BEI), N° 22-23, 2004-2005 : pp. 668-677.

• DEJENNE N., 2004. Do you enjoy the Somyaagam ?, A propos d’un agnistoma célébré à Trichur (Kerala) en avril 2003, Bulletin d’Etudes Indiennes, 21.1, pp.225-239

• DEJENNE N., 2004. Book review of the book of Mr Parpola -Kerala "Brahmins in Transition", Bulletin d’Etudes Indienne, 21.1, pp.345-349

• DEJENNE N., 2003. The "Dubrovnik group" and the development of epic and puranic studies, Bulletin d’Etudes Indienne, 21.1, pp.267-278