And finally we finished the Religion chapter. Some of you asked why we devoted three full lectures to religion. It was simply because it forms a significant part of our culture. However, the more important to us is the weight it carries in the prelims recently - as many as 13/23 culture-questions asked in the last 4 years were from religion. It mean that 56% of culture questions are from religion. In other words, you can expect on an average 3 questions from the same part this year as well.
Lecture -
After reaching the decline of North Indian religion in Post-Gupta feudal era, we today saw that the resurrection was from the South this time. Briefly touching upon Tolkappiyam and Late Sangam literature, we started discussing Alwars and Nayanars. The temple institution which is the hallmark of South was also discussed in some details and then we went on to talk about Acharyas. After discussing various Acharyas and their role in Chola and post-Chola era, we came back to the North. In North, we discussed Nath Sampraday and debated a few arguments that people generally make about the characteristics of Bhakti Movement. Next discussion was divided into two parts - Monotheist saints and their work (Kabir, Nanak etc) and Saguna Vaishnav saints and their work from different regions of India.
The second half of the lecture comprised of Sufism. In introduction, Islam and growth of sufism outside India was discussed in a few minutes. Then we talked about stages of developments of sufis in India, their various silsilahs, their expansion, relative comparison, relation with the state etc. Along with Suhrawardi, it also included Chishtiya silsilah and its southern branch. The end was done with Naqshbandi silsilah tracing its lineage till Aurangzeb. At the end, we enumerated the contribution by Sufis to India.
No talk on Indian religious history would be complete without the mention of Akbar's religious policy. Its influence, facets and stages of evolution were discussed in brief. This part of the history is actually very rich and complex giving rise to many debates. Though we are not able to pursue the discussion further, I hope I have done enough job to arouse your interest to read on your own.
Issues -
Some issues have been brought to my notice by a few forthcoming students. One is the problem in hearing at the end. Second is about confusion over what to take down in the notebook and what to listen. There are several reasons for this I guess. We shall discuss that on Monday. I will come up with some solutions by then.
Marathon Lecture -
So far we have been through 4 lectures - 1 Introduction and 3 on Religion. We have 2 more lectures at hand insofar as Culture is concerned and we are yet to finish a huge portion. On Monday, we will be meeting for 3 hours instead of regular 2 hours. Our aim will be to finish Architecture on Monday.
Exam -
There will be a test on Religion next weekend. As I promised in the class, more than half of the questions will be from the parts not exactly covered in the class but are in the standard text books. I expect you all to finish reading relevant NCERTs by next weekend and be ready. All the best.
Lecture -
After reaching the decline of North Indian religion in Post-Gupta feudal era, we today saw that the resurrection was from the South this time. Briefly touching upon Tolkappiyam and Late Sangam literature, we started discussing Alwars and Nayanars. The temple institution which is the hallmark of South was also discussed in some details and then we went on to talk about Acharyas. After discussing various Acharyas and their role in Chola and post-Chola era, we came back to the North. In North, we discussed Nath Sampraday and debated a few arguments that people generally make about the characteristics of Bhakti Movement. Next discussion was divided into two parts - Monotheist saints and their work (Kabir, Nanak etc) and Saguna Vaishnav saints and their work from different regions of India.
The second half of the lecture comprised of Sufism. In introduction, Islam and growth of sufism outside India was discussed in a few minutes. Then we talked about stages of developments of sufis in India, their various silsilahs, their expansion, relative comparison, relation with the state etc. Along with Suhrawardi, it also included Chishtiya silsilah and its southern branch. The end was done with Naqshbandi silsilah tracing its lineage till Aurangzeb. At the end, we enumerated the contribution by Sufis to India.
No talk on Indian religious history would be complete without the mention of Akbar's religious policy. Its influence, facets and stages of evolution were discussed in brief. This part of the history is actually very rich and complex giving rise to many debates. Though we are not able to pursue the discussion further, I hope I have done enough job to arouse your interest to read on your own.
Issues -
Some issues have been brought to my notice by a few forthcoming students. One is the problem in hearing at the end. Second is about confusion over what to take down in the notebook and what to listen. There are several reasons for this I guess. We shall discuss that on Monday. I will come up with some solutions by then.
Marathon Lecture -
So far we have been through 4 lectures - 1 Introduction and 3 on Religion. We have 2 more lectures at hand insofar as Culture is concerned and we are yet to finish a huge portion. On Monday, we will be meeting for 3 hours instead of regular 2 hours. Our aim will be to finish Architecture on Monday.
Exam -
There will be a test on Religion next weekend. As I promised in the class, more than half of the questions will be from the parts not exactly covered in the class but are in the standard text books. I expect you all to finish reading relevant NCERTs by next weekend and be ready. All the best.
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