Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation

1998 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumathi Ramaswamy
Keyword(s):  

Once upon a time, long before the rise of the modern nation, a language named Tamil wandered about in a world inhabited by divinities and extraordinary beings. This was an enchanted world of miraculous events and wondrous deeds, where the dead were brought back to life, and deserts transformed into fragrant groves; and where verses in Tamil cured fevers, stopped floods, and impaled enemies. It was a world in which poets, because of their mastery of Tamil, lorded over the gods themselves, and in which celestials vied with each other to win the affections of the language. There were even those who insisted that devotees of Tamil could look forward to a life amongst the gods, while its enemies were destined to languish in hell.

Author(s):  
Anne McGowan

Worshippers at Catholic Christmas services may come seeking festivities focused on the infant Jesus but will find in the Scriptures proclaimed and the proper texts of the Christmas liturgies all-encompassing theological claims about salvation through an adult Christ who suffered, died, and rose from the dead. The official Christmas liturgies of the Roman rite were shaped by doctrinal concerns and historical circumstances. They emphasize a ‘holy exchange’ between divinity and humanity in Christ incarnate that opens a way for redemption accomplished historically, celebrated liturgically, and fully realized eschatologically. The celebration of Christmas in Roman Catholic worshipping communities involves situating Christ’s birth in the broader context of his death and Resurrection, negotiating the placement of paraliturgical and cultural customs that nourish the piety of the people and contextualize the feast, and preaching the Gospel in ways that inspire worshippers to become witnesses for Christ in the world.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamdani .

This research comes from an event titled Two World which is a show owned by Trans7. This event has a lot of religious messages through jinmelalui advice through the body of the mediator (genie penetrates into the human body) .The purpose of this study is to know the level of material understanding of the World Two Trans7 event based on existing categories of audience in Ketapang Kotawaringin East of Central Kalimantan against this Two World event. This research method is descriptive qualitative field research (field) in town in Middle Kalimantan region named Sampit and more specifically Ketapang Village area So with the data obtained, the authors conducted a questionnaire that has contained questions about the response to the World Two event in Trans7.In addition, also coupled with various manuals in theory to do this research. The results of this study can be seen that there are messages of da'wah in this event though many smells of mystic things. As for the religious message about belief (akidah), Worship (shariah) and Moral (akhlak). Also in the event Two World also, from the results of the question with the jinn is implied ban on begging to the deceased. Moreover, if to adore them. Remember that the dead only require prayer posts, not for worship. Those are some of the sage messages implied by the jinns' rantings in the Worlds Two show that aired on Trans7. Seeing some of the precious messages that have been conveyed by the Jinn, men should be ashamed for being nasehati by the people of the unseen world that is identical with the evil and sinister impression


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-70
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Sauer

Relics carried great significance in medieval Christianity. Generally these relics, or at least first-class relics, were fragmented bodies, literal pieces of saints, where a part or parts represented the whole. This idea reverberates with what Robyn Malo has called “relic discourse.” She argues that as saints’ bodies became more and more elaborately enshrined in fancy reliquaries, they became less accessible to the people; similarly, the language of hagiographies and other devotional writings, with their characteristic rhetoric of treasure and brightness, provided a substitute for direct experience of the relic. Extending Malo’s idea to anchoritic literature, Sauer argues that anchorites, who are alive yet dead to the world, can themselves be read as living relics; therefore, anchoritic literature uses vocabulary and rhetoric that calls to mind relics and reliquaries. In this way, the position of the anchorite as a living relic, and thus a mediator among the living and the dead and the divine, is manifest.


1987 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Peires

The Xhosa cattle-killing movement of 1856–7 cannot be explained as a superstitious ‘pagan reaction’to the intrusion of colonial rule and Christian civilization. It owes its peculiar form to the lungsickness epidemic of 1854, which carried off over 100,000 Xhosa cattle. The Xhosa theory of disease indicated that the sick cattle had been contaminated by the witchcraft practices of the people, and that these tainted cattle would have to be slaughtered lest they infect the pure new cattle which were about to rise.The idea of the resurrection of the dead was partly due to the Xhosa belief that the dead do not really die or depart from the world of the living, and partly to the Xhosa myth of creation, which held that all life originated in a certain cavern in the ground which might yet again pour forth its blessings on the earth. Christian doctrines, transmitted through the prophets Nxele and Mhlakaza, supplemented and elaborated these indigenous Xhosa beliefs. The Xhosa and the Christian elements united together in the person of the expected redeemer Sifuba-sibanzi (the broad-chested one). The central beliefs of the Xhosa cattle-killing were neither irrational nor atavistic. Ironically, it was probably because they were so rational and so appropriate that they ultimately proved to be so deadly.


Author(s):  
Oskar Kaelin

The ancient Egyptians were surrounded by various manifestations of their many gods. Though their gods usually lived in heaven or in the netherworlds, they were permanently represented on earth by monuments, statues, symbols, animals, and plants, as well as by social concepts. The Egyptians described their gods by various names and images, always aware that in the end their true personalities and characters remained elusive. The ancient Egyptian universe comprised heaven, earth, and netherworld, all part of creation and surrounded by eternal darkness. Though separate areas, they were permeable for the gods and the dead. The universe ran smoothly as long as there was respect and cooperation between them and the living. This formed an ideological, social, and economic cohesion. The gods were powerful but benevolent, and approachable in many ways. The divine king was the hub between the world of the gods and the human sphere. He was the main entity responsible for organizing the supply and welfare of the humans, and for keeping order. During official festivals, the living, the gods, and the dead celebrated together, but there were also a number of more personal ways to approach deities. The various sites of interaction between gods and men formed a vast network connecting all the players: the gods were responsible for creation and abundance, the kings and elites were primarily responsible for ensuring that the system ran according to Maat (“Order”), and the people were responsible for living and working throughout the country. The system of ancient Egyptian gods structured Egyptian ideas, policies, and everyday life from the end of the 4th millennium bce to the rise of Christianity and beyond. The ancient Egyptians’ beliefs were polytheistic, acknowledging the existence of thousands of gods and endless deceased humans. At times, the ancient Egyptians appeared to be henotheistic and would exalt a deity in his or her uniqueness. Moreover, with Akhenaten, they were the first to experiment with monotheism, though that did not last much longer than a decade. The ideas and images created for the Egyptian gods and religion had an impact on many contemporaneous cultures, as well as on later religions.


Author(s):  
Anwar Ibrahim

This study deals with Universal Values and Muslim Democracy. This essay draws upon speeches that he gave at the New York Democ- racy Forum in December 2005 and the Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul in April 2006. The emergence of Muslim democracies is something significant and worthy of our attention. Yet with the clear exceptions of Indonesia and Turkey, the Muslim world today is a place where autocracies and dictatorships of various shades and degrees continue their parasitic hold on the people, gnawing away at their newfound freedoms. It concludes that the human desire to be free and to lead a dignified life is universal. So is the abhorrence of despotism and oppression. These are passions that motivate not only Muslims but people from all civilizations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Lars Rømer

This article investigates how experiences of ghosts can be seen as a series of broken narratives. By using cases from contemporary as well 19th century Denmark I will argue that ghosts enter the world of the living as sensations that question both common sense understanding and problematize the unfinished death. Although ghosts have been in opposition to both science and religion in Denmark at least since the reformation I will exemplify how people deal with the broken narrative of ghosts in ways that incorporate and mimic techniques of both the scientist and the priest. Ghosts, thus, initiate a dialogue between the dead and the living concerning the art of dying that will enable both to move on.


Author(s):  
Zyad Samir Al-Dabagh

The process of building peace and laying its foundations within the societies of the world, especially those newly emerging from the stage of conflict, are among the important and indispensable matters. Without peace, opportunities diminish in obtaining the essentials of a safe and normal life, and without peace, societies cannot It works and advances towards a better future. However, peacebuilding operations in many societies emerging from conflict or those in which they live may face a set of challenges and obstacles that constitute a major obstacle to them, which necessitates searching for the best ways and means by which these obstacles can be addressed in order to build a real and effective peace that is reflected Positively on the people of those societies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 171-174
Author(s):  
Tarare Toshida ◽  
Chaple Jagruti

The covid-19 resulted in broad range of spread throughout the world in which India has also became a prey of it and in this situation the means of media is extensively inϑluencing the mentality of the people. Media always played a role of loop between society and sources of information. In this epidemic also media is playing a vital role in shaping the reaction in ϑirst place for both good and ill by providing important facts regarding symptoms of Corona virus, preventive measures against the virus and also how to deal with any suspect of disease to overcome covid-19. On the other hand, there are endless people who spread endless rumours overs social media and are adversely affecting life of people but we always count on media because they provide us with valuable answers to our questions, facts and everything in need. Media always remains on top of the line when it comes to stop the out spread of rumours which are surely dangerous kind of information for society. So on our side we should react fairly and maturely to handle the situation to keep it in the favour of humanity and help government not only to ϑight this pandemic but also the info emic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 748-752
Author(s):  
Swapnali Khabade ◽  
Bharat Rathi ◽  
Renu Rathi

A novel, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and spread globally from Wuhan, China. In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared the SARS-Cov-2 virus as a COVID- 19, a global pandemic. This pandemic happened to be followed by some restrictions, and specially lockdown playing the leading role for the people to get disassociated with their personal and social schedules. And now the food is the most necessary thing to take care of. It seems the new challenge for the individual is self-isolation to maintain themselves on the health basis and fight against the pandemic situation by boosting their immunity. Food organised by proper diet may maintain the physical and mental health of the individual. Ayurveda aims to promote and preserve the health, strength and the longevity of the healthy person and to cure the disease by properly channelling with and without Ahara. In Ayurveda, diet (Ahara) is considered as one of the critical pillars of life, and Langhana plays an important role too. This article will review the relevance of dietetic approach described in Ayurveda with and without food (Asthavidhi visheshaytana & Lanhgan) during COVID-19 like a pandemic.


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