Post 2: Week’s Agenda

Welcome back guys and thank you for joining me as I explore “Divinity through Tamil History”!
(This is where y’all go “OOOHHHH” and “AHHHHH” (bonus points if you even cheered)

For this week’s agenda:

1. I will be reading 4 peer-reviewed articles (sourced from JSTOR).   

• Village Deities Of Tamil Nadu In Myths And Legends: The Narrated Experience
• Bhakti In The Early Jain Tradition: Understanding Devotional Religion In South Asia
• Language Of The People In The World Of Gods: Ideologies Of Tamil Before The Nation
• Orientalism And The Modern Myth Of “Hinduism”

These articles are meant to teach me a bit more about the anthropology of Dravidian people, specifically those who lived in modern-day Tamil Nadu. It will analyze the Dravidian religion and culture, how it viewed religion and the concept of God, and even describe how Hinduism eventually merged with this religion. What I hope to gain from this preliminary research is an idea about the Dravidian culture and see how those ideologies shaped their gods, Ceyon, Korravai, and Malon. I will also see how the Dravidian culture differs from the “Hindu”/ Vedic culture that is seen in their deities.

2. I will be in contact with my external advisor, Shyam Ramachandran (shyam.ramachandran@gmail.com). He studied Indian history during his college years. Besides that, he also is connected with scholars and historians who are also well-versed in Tamil history. When in contact, I will discuss the culture and history of the Dravidian people and the shift in Tamil culture from its pastoral roots to a defined hierarchical system, how that has changed the deities they worshipped, and even discuss plans on teaching to lower schools. Through him, I will be able to delve into the Tamil and Hindu texts, knowing the context between both sides.

.. Start my research paper. Using the information from both the peer-reviewed sources and what was taught by my external advisors and other historians. My paper will showcase my study so far and summarize my week. That way, I will be able to see my progress from this week and the end of my project.

That is this week’s agenda. Hopefully, this week will be fruitful and I will be ready to dive into the holy texts, arts, and other scriptures next week. I will post my findings from the research by the end of this week and let you guys know about my analysis, so do stay tuned for that as well.

Thank you so much for reading and do come back for the next post on “Divinity through Tamil History”.