1.) People Who Have Historically Practiced Raslila:
Raslila is a performance tradition that has its origins from the country of India. Its creation dates back to the fifteenth century. The whole purpose of the performance tradition is an attempt to retell the important moments in the life of the Hindu Lord Krishna. Raslila began originally in only the regions of India connected to Lord Krishna’s mythology. Gumand Dev, Hitharivansih, and Naryan Bhatt are the three Vishnu bhakti saints who are thought to have created the tradition (Miettinen). Historically, young males raging in ages from eight to thirteen years old have performed this tradition. Yet, worshiping Hindus of all ages and genders have always attended it (Miettinen).
2.) Cultural, Historical, Social Contexts of Tradition:
Raslila is a performance tradition that is very important to the culture and religion of India as a whole. The point of Raslila is to tell the story of the Hindi Lord Krishna’s life as a young boy, which teaches the people of India the importance of divine love, joy, and happiness. Thus, it is usually performed during large festivals, but mainly during celebrations that center around the Hindu religion. Krishna Jamashtami is the largest occasion in which Raslila is performed because it is meant to celebrate the birth of the Lord Krishna (“Raslila, Indian Folk Dance”). The dancing within the performance is considered Indian folk dancing because it has such a long and rich history within the country of India (Banerji). There is over 450 years of different adaptations of the dance style found throughout Indian history, and is considered one of India’s most ancient traditions (Banerji).
3.) Ritual of Entertainment:
Raslila is essentially a very rituali...
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...iety of instruments and songs (“Raslila, Indian Folk Dance”). Therefore, it is up to them what they choose to play during the lila part of the performance, making it another convention.
7.) How is the Tradition Viewed Today:
Raslila is still a huge part of Indian culture today. In today’s more modern society, girls are now allowed to participate in the performances and can even play the lead roles of Lord Krishna and Radha. However, because it is becoming a more modern version of the performance type, Raslila is slowly inching away from being a sacred religious ritual and is becoming something with more entertainment value. Raslila being performed today can involve more modern music along with more modern dance styles. Yet, the ultimate meaning of Raslila has held true over the years. It is still a celebration of the life of Lord Krishna and his true love Radha.
Considering descendants’ effort to bring this culture back in society, this entire dancing performance, masks, and the idea of interacting with the outside world must not have been merely correlated to their religious and spiritual ritual. It might have been their identity; a symbolic of their society which their ancestors had built and passed down to them.
...ure and the Hindu religion. Played in temples, events and religion holidays the dholak continues to bring joy to members of the West Indian community and inspiration for the younger generation. Indian music has been redefined throughout the years, so it’s important to revive it and preserve it. Lal revives the Indian music by re-singing old music and adding a different beat when playing the dholak. The West Indian community has helped revive Indian music by singing live with the dholak. Members preserve the Indian music by oral traditional, which meant that the lyrics of the song are unchangeable. Singing the original song with traditional instrument will help preserve the Indian music. The dholak has related to the West Indian culture and the Hindu religion by adding entertainment to their culture and helping integrate the religion songs into traditional music.
A lot of people’s understanding of Rasta’s only goes as far as to think that Rasta’s are people that live in Jamaica, smoke weed, and have Dreadlocks. These people do not begin to think what is behind the movement. The idea that Rastafari is strictly Jamaican is also very wrong. Since the origination of Rastafari, the Rasta movement has expanded far beyond the island of Jamaica. Rasta’s now live all over the world. There are Rasta cultures in all parts of Europe, Asia, New Zealand, United States, and especially Africa. This paper seeks to explain Rastafari and to show it’s expansion by exposing Rasta’s culture from it’s most holy form in Ethiopia to one of it’s least holy in Dallas Texas.
Rastafari is, before it is anything else, a way of life. It offers approaches and answers to real problems black people face in daily living; it promotes spiritual resilience in the face of oppressive poverty and underdevelopment. It produces art, music and cultural forms, which can be universally recognized and appreciated. More important, Rastafari provides a positive self-image, an alternative to people who need and cannot find or accept one elsewhere. Even with its black foundation and orientation, Rastafarianism is open to anyone, of any race, who chooses to discover and is able to accept it.
Kathak (Sanskrit translation: ‘Katha’- story; ‘Katthaka’- story-teller) can be traced to as far back as the 3rd century and is one of the eight Classical dances in India. It originated in Northern India -Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar-Pradesh. It was originally performed in temples to narrate mythological stories presented in the Ramayana and Mahabharata with mimetic gestures and singing. ‘Katthakas’ were mostly high-caste, educated Brahmins. Nowadays, class division is less intruding in one’s pursuit of becoming a ‘Katthaka’.
Out of the 365 days in a year, Diwali, known as the “festival of lights,” is by far the most important day to celebrate for every Indian. Like much of Indian and Hindu tradition, this holiday comes with a historical background framing its significance. The history of Diwali reflects the memory of Ram shooting an arrow through Raven’s stomach because Raven kidnapped Sita. In Hinduism, ladies are highly regarded because following that event, Ram doubted Sita for her purity and gave her the Agni pariksha (the fire test). Although the test proved her purity and bravery, Sita became upset and appealed to mother earth to conceal her within. Mother earth, understanding her sorrow, accepted her. This event from the time of the gods forecasted the biggest factor to tear apart marriage in Hindu culture by investigating the theme of doubt. The profound religious meaning behind this is opaque and is further formed by uniting family and friends together to celebrate the festival of lights. Another important holiday is Holi, the festival of color, which occurs around the season of harvest. Today, it is celebrated by spreading many colorful powders on everyone participating. The deeper significance behind Holi is between the power of truth, honesty, and good karma versus evil. Lord Krishna was born with a darker skin color and his love, Radha, was born with a fairer skin tone. Once Lord Krishna had a blue skin color
These ragas, along with the rhythms played by the percussionist, convey the particular “tranquility, natural beauty, and spirituality” of Indian music and are the very backbone of its expression (Wright 432-433). Raga has a much richer meaning beyond its melody. Bailey (115) notes that the music theory behind raga stipulates specific emotions, “the deities with which they are associated,” and even the appropriate times they should be performed.3 Tala is cyclic in nature and may be linked to the spiritual importance of reincarnation within Hinduism (Wright 433). The sitar is a “North Indian stringed instrument related to the lute, consisting of two gourds connected by a teakwood neck with 20 movable frets, six or seven main playing strings, and 11-13 sympathetic strings on separate bridges” (Rain 116). The tabla are two drums played in accompaniment to the sitar, one of which will produce one sound, while the sound of the other is influenced by the amount of force with which it is struck (Wright
In India there are many religious rituals. Some are the same as in the United States of America. They have Muslim and Christian rituals. Some of these rituals the Muslim and Christians of the United States of America participate in. Religious rituals make a huge impact on India’s culture. India’s culture would not be the same without these religious rituals. (“Indian Culture”)
Bollywood film has opened the gates to Bollywood dance, creating a popular style that spread throughout the world. This style would not have been able to spread so quickly if it not had been for the familiar themes and culture found in the genre. Because of this diverse make-up, Bollywood dance is being questioned, for it cannot be seen as traditional Indian dance if it is made up of so many different cultures and styles. Due to the creation from a wide assortment of cultures and practices, Bollywood dance has been the subject of a controversy focusing on its authenticity. Although it is not pure Indian movements, it has become the face of Indian dance due to accessibility and familiarity.
As we studied in lecture, the culture of a particular community is meaningful only when we study them in their context. If we study them outside of the context, they do not have any cultural value or meaning. The culture of Srilankan Tamils contains many traditions and customs. Customs and rituals have been part of the society from generation to generation and some are relatively new. Most of these customs are connected with everyday life for most people in the social and religious circle and they are considered desirable and constructive. I would like to discuss some of the course readings such as Adam Ashforth’s Madumo: A man Bewitched, Durham Deborah’s Soliciting Gifts and Negotiating Agency, Evan Pritchard’s The notion of witchcraft explains unfortunate events, Rosaldo Renato’s Grief and a headhunter’s rage and Geertz Clifford’s Deep play.
The spiritual perception associated with Rastafarians wearing dreads has changed significantly over the past years. The views of which, are clearly exemplified in the lyrics of several reggae songs produced by popular artist such as Bob Marley. Rasta’s had always and continues to be identified by their personal appearance and cultural connection to Jamaica. The purpose of the music associated with this religion is to promote positive message. For this reason I am interested in studying the identities of the Rastafari religion. Also, I am interested in learning more about Rastafarianism because of my own Jamaican heritage and the significance of reggae music that was introduced to me since childhood.
Rastafari is a theology based upon the writings of Marcus Garvey a Jamaican social activist. The movement’s global spread from Jamaica across the world has been strongly influenced by Bob Marley and closely associated with reggae. Many of Marley’s songs captured the essence of Rastafari religion and its social and political beliefs. (bbc.co.uk, 2014)
Different dances came from different cultures in this performance. As I had said before, “Oshun, Goddess of Love”, came from Africa. It arrived in America during the slave trade and has been here ever since. “Paper Moon” came from Japan. The text from the dance came from an adaptation from “Omoiyari”, which is an ancient Japanese dance ritual.
Like many Indian arts, Indian dance also has its root in religion. Without the religious and cultural background of India, the growth and beauty of Indian dance is not possible. In ‘Natya Shastra’, there is a small story about the origin of Indian dance. According to Hindu mythology, dance first existed in heaven. There was always a constant conflict between the Asuras and the Devas for wealth and power. The Devas were tired of the Asuras’ greediness and jealousy.
Another example equally as potent and yet sadly overlooked by many particularly those outside India is that of Kathak. A classical Indian dance, today held in great esteem among the 6 great classical dances of India, 21st century Kathak combines incredibly complex technique and elegant, slow abhinaya (or story telling) and owes almost the entirety of its current day form to the Mughals. The transformation that Kathak underwent from its original form to how we see it today that occurred during Mughal Era is perhaps the most underestimated and truest remaining symbol of the vibrant Indo-Islamic cultural melding that occurred under the patronage of the Mughals, and to...