Week 2: Reading Overview

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 I'd be most interested in reading Narayan's Ramayana due to its modern language and historical connections. Narayan is both an author and historical figure in Indian history, and I look forward to reading his own rendition of the Sanskrit epic in order to appreciate his work. I also like the book's historical context with the work being based on the medieval Tamil poet, Kamban. Finally, since the length of Narayan's novel is 200 pages, I feel as if it would be thorough but not a struggle to complete.

 

A few comic books also interested me in learning more about the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The comic book Rama: Retold From Ramayana had an appealing artistic style, and it would be a great way to retell the epic. The summary of the comic book highlights how detailed the narrative is, and the short length makes the comic a great way to review over all the details. In order to learn more about the Mahabharata, I'd also be interested in reading the comic book Krishna and Shishupala: He Was Forgiven a Hundred Times. The title caught my eye, and the summary demonstrated that the comic book focuses on the narrative in a concise way. While the artistic style was slightly different from the previous comic book, it was also appealing.


Browsing through the video playlist, the first video that I found interesting was Hindu Creation Stories. While only 2 minutes long, the video explained how Hindus understand the beginning of the universe. I've learned of Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva, and the video helped connect all gods to a larger cycle of birth, creation, and death. The animation style reminded me of traditional Indian art and avoided a cartoon-like portrayal of Hindu beliefs. While Hindu theology's expansiveness can make it difficult to find a starting point, the video was informative and insightful in beginning to understand Hinduism. I also enjoyed learning about Hinduism's symbolism through the video Symbols of Divinity. I've always noticed recurring symbols in Hindu iconography as I visited the temple, but I never grasped its meaning. For example, the lotus symbolizes wealth and is associated with Goddess Lakshmi, who's known as the goddess of wealth and purity. I never realized that these symbols aren't simply associated with specific deities, but instead represent the role of the deities.


The Dance of Shiva. Source: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists

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