The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan ethnic conflict that has occurred largely between Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus is marked by a degree of religious tolerance that sees both communities worshiping together. This study describes one important site of such worship, the ancient Hindu temple complex of Munnesvaram. Standing adjacent to one of Sri Lanka's historical western ports, the fortunes of the Munnesvaram temples have waxed and waned through the years of turbulence, violence and social change that have been the country's lot since the advent of European colonialism in the Indian Ocean. Bastin recounts the story of these temples and analyses how the Hindu temple is reproduced as a center of worship amidst conflict and competition.
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... called the North-West Province by the British. In earlier accounts, Munnesvaram pattuva was one of eight such pattu belonging to an area known as Demala ('Tamil') pattu. In his 1834 survey of the island, Simon Casie Chitty (1989) wrote ...
... called Sri Lanka's 'Coconut Triangle'.10 The villages of the present day Munnesvaram pattuva engage in both paddy and coconut cultivation, although the former took somewhat second place in the 1980s, partly because of deterioration of ...
... called 'Munnesvaram'.15 One can speculate that perhaps over time the status of the Munnesvaram god has grown loftier from demonic younger brother to divine First of the Sages. However, one can also speculate that, over time, the lofty ...
... called simply 'Mother Goddess' (Amma Deviyo) but she is also known by many Sinhala Buddhists at Munnesvaram as the single most important and highest goddess in their pantheon – Pattini. For many Sinhala Buddhists, Munnesvaram temple is ...
... called a 'Kiri Amma'. In this sense, 'Kiri Amma' is an epithet like the Tamil 'amman' ('mother superior'), and 'pattini' ('virgin', but also 'chaste wife'). The terms describe a category with concrete forms in a very similar way to the ...
Chapter 3 Myths and Marginality
Chapter 4 Ritual Practices and Religious Identity
Chapter 5 The Saivite Temple as a Monumental Architecture
Puja and Arccanai
Chapter 7 The Presence of Sakti
Chapter 8 Guardians Games and the Formation of Power
Chapter 9 The World Inside Out
Chapter 10 The Domain of Excess
Divine Kings and Regal Gods Temples in Society and History