Frog Hymns and Rain Babies: Monsoon Culture and the Art of Ancient South Asia

by Guatama V. Vajracharya

Overview

• A repertoire of monsoonal animal and plant imagery peculiar to the Indian subcontinent are the six seasons, the monsoon or rainy season being one of them• Divided into three parts: New Methodology, Artistic Expressions of Estivatian/Monsoon Culture, and Continuity of Monsoon CultureShowcases pioneering methodology using the influence of the monsoon on early Indian culture and its resulting influence on Indian artThe book depicts a new framework for examining the Vedic assimilation of indigenous Indian culture
Frog Hymns and Rain Babies is a repertoire of monsoonal animal and plant imagery peculiar to the Indian subcontinent are the six seasons, the monsoon or rainy season being one of them. In this pioneering and analytical study of the monsoon culture of pre-Vedic and Vedic times, the author draws on literary and visual sources to understand the pre-Vedic concept of atmospheric gestation and cloud forms, astrological texts, Ajanta ceiling paintings, as well as the unusual Newar festival of baby showers in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

Contents:
Part I: New Methodology
1. The Rigvedic Frog Hymn, Shaving of Hair and the Adaptation of Monsoonal Culture
2. The Concept of Prana, Monsoon Culture and Visual Art

Part II: Artistic Expressions of Estivation/Monsoon Culture
3. Pipal Tree, Tonsured Monks, Ushnisha and Monsoon Culture
4. Chakravartin, the Rainmaker
5. Symbolism of Ashokan Pillars and Monsoon Culture
6. Atmospheric Gestation: Deciphering Ajanta Ceiling Paintings and Other Related Works in Light of Monsoon Culture

Part III: Continuity of Monsoon Culture: A Case Study in Nepal
7. The Creatures of the Rain Rivers, Cloud Lakes Newars Saw Them, So Did Ancient Peoples
8. Dance of Conception and Baby Shower: Tracing a Latent Aspect of Durgapuja in Light of the "Rain-baby" Kumara's Cult
9. Shri and Lakshmi and Monsoon Culture

List of Sanskrit Words
Index

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788192110646
Publisher:	Marg Foundation
Publication date:	09/16/2013
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 12.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Gautama V. Vajracharya is a Sanskritist with a deep interest in South Asian art and culture. He received a prestigious Rockefeller grant to work as a trainee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and later earned a Masters degree in art history from the Claremont Graduate School, California, and a PhD on South Asian language and culture from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Table of Contents

Contents:
Part I: New Methodology
1. The Rigvedic Frog Hymn, Shaving of Hair and the Adaptation of Monsoonal Culture
2. The Concept of Prana, Monsoon Culture and Visual Art

Part II: Artistic Expressions of Estivation/Monsoon Culture
3. Pipal Tree, Tonsured Monks, Ushnisha and Monsoon Culture
4. Chakravartin, the Rainmaker
5. Symbolism of Ashokan Pillars and Monsoon Culture
6. Atmospheric Gestation: Deciphering Ajanta Ceiling Paintings and Other Related Works in Light of Monsoon Culture

Part III: Continuity of Monsoon Culture: A Case Study in Nepal
7. The Creatures of the Rain Rivers, Cloud Lakes Newars Saw Them, So Did Ancient Peoples
8. Dance of Conception and Baby Shower: Tracing a Latent Aspect of Durgapuja in Light of the "Rain-baby" Kumara's Cult
9. Shri and Lakshmi and Monsoon Culture

List of Sanskrit Words
Index