Tamil Heritage Trust
In his talk for THT, "Reconstructing History from Tangible and Intangible Heritage: A case study from medieval Maharashtra", Dr Arvind P Jamkhedkar,
takes the fascinating example of the Renukādevī cult from Mahur in
Nanded district to demonstrate the seamless coalescing of these tracks.
at 5.30 pm IST on Saturday, July 2, 2022 for this event. Talk in English
Āmalī-grāma-māhātmya relates the mythic legend of Renukādevī, mother of
Parashurāma. After she voluntarily immolated herself along with her dead
husband, she emerges from the womb of the earth only upto her neck. She
is worshipped with offerings of flesh and liquor and a folk dance known
as Gondalī-dance, which is performed in Maharashtra to this day at
auspicious events like weddings. The dance has been recognised since the
12th century CE and has been mentioned even from Tamilnadu (Kondalī
dance). The dance is derived from the Gond tribe, whose origin
myth connects them to the goddess Kālī. In turn, this points towards the
process of assimilation of the Gonds with the urban Hinduism. The whole
saga of Renukā-māhātmya is an excellent example where the tangible and
intangible evidence have played an important role in reconstructing the
Cult of Renukā in the Deccan.
Dr Arvind Prabhakar Jamkhedkar was the Chairman of the Indian
Council of HIstorical Research (ICHR) from 2018-2021. He is the
Chancellor of the Deccan College Pune, deemed to be a university, an
institution from which he took his Ph.D in Ancient Indian Culture in
1966. He has served as the Director of Archaeology and Museums in
Maharashtra. He has participated in and led numerous excavations
of chalcolithic, megalithic and early historical sites. Proficient in
classical and vedic Sanskrit, Pali and Ardhamagadhi, his wide range of
research interests includes archaeology, temple architecture, art
history, epigraphy, Buddhism and Jainism and more. He has published
excavation reports, monographs, critical editions of books and dozens of
articles in journals. He is a member on several Boards and
Committees in the field of heritage and history and has been conferred
several awards and feted at international conferences.
Tamil Heritage Trust
tamilheritage.in
teachers4heritage.tht@gmail.com
919444823681
|
