Attentive Minds: A History of the Indian Performative Art of Avadhāna from the Origin to Modern Times

Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-90-04-68561-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 58, 382 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 788 g

Reihe: Brill's Indological Library

From tenth-century South India to twenty-first-century cultural events, from the court assemblies to the public space: Attentive Minds takes you on a journey through the fascinating world of avadhana, a complex and long-living performative art of India whose practitioners showcase highly developed cognitive skills (like attention, ability to multitask, memory) and specialized knowledge.

With the help of epigraphic and literary sources and field research, Hermina Cielas reconstructs avadhana’s history in its socio-cultural context and provides a detailed systematization of the art. Her multifaceted study investigates the cultural phenomenon scarcely known outside of India. It explores avadhana’s multiple forms, from games and puzzles, through a display of mnemonic or motor skills, to multilingual literary feasts.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cielas, Hermina

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1: Towards the Avadhana

1 Celebration of Cognitive Skills

1 Concentration and Attentiveness

2 Memory, Memorization, and Chanting Vedas

3 Retention

2 Riddles, Skills, and Arts

1 Creating and Solving Riddles

2 The 64 (or More) Arts and Skills

3 The Influence of Theatre and Natyasastra

3 Performing Literary Composition

1 The Underlying Principles of Indian Poetry

2 The Four Types of Poetry

3 Multilingualism

4 Kavigosthi

Part 2: The Great (Systematized) Improvisation

4 The Systematization of Avadhana

1 The General Tenets and Basic Division of Avadhana

2 Hidden behind the Numbers

3 The Duration of a Performance

4 Mnemonic Forms of Avadhana

5 Technical Avadhanas and Their Tasks

6 Artistic Forms of Avadhana

5 The Languages of Avadhana

6 Performing Traditions, Fostering Communities

1 A (Cultural) Performance

2 The Ritualistic and Liminoid Aspects of Avadhana

Part 3: Voices from the Stones and Scriptures

7 Tablets, Stones, and Copperplates

1 The Inscription from Vallimalai

2 The Nandampundi Grant and Narayana

3 Mallikarjuna Bhatta and Somesvara in the Epigraphs from Belagami and Ablur

4 Devasarma in the Inscription from Halsi

5 Visvanatha from Belvola in the Inscriptions from Kembalu and Haranahalli

6 The Avadhanis of the Nanaka prasastis

8 Avadhana in the Literary Sources

1 Vedavadhanis

2 Avadhana

Über Autor(innen)

Hermina Cielas, Ph.D. (2018), Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is a Researcher in the Department of Languages and Cultures of India and South Asia at that university. She is the author of several articles on Indian culture and literature.