Call for Papers on Environmentalist Aspects of Hindu Folk and Tribal Traditions -
Nagaraj Paturi
Call for Papers on
Environmentalist Aspects of Hindu Folk and Tribal Traditions
In the
Indic Academy IGUC’s conference on
Indic and Pagan Environmentalism
The attention towards the value of the pre-modern /traditional cultures towards Eco-friendly and Environment sustaining thinking has been recognized right from the moment the world awoke to the ecological crisis manifest in several different forms including climate change. But it is Lynn Townsend White Jr's "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis (1967)" that has been the watershed in this realization. He gave a lecture on December 26, 1966 on this topic with the same title at the Washington meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and that was later published in the journal Science in 1967. White marked the Industrial Revolution as a fundamental turning point in our ecological history. He suggests that at this point the hypotheses of science were married to the possibilities of technology and our ability to destroy and exploit the environment was vastly increased. Nevertheless, he also suggests that the mentality of the Industrial Revolution, that the earth was a resource for human consumption, was much older than the actuality of machinery, and has its roots in medieval Christianity and attitudes towards nature. Citing the Genesis creation story he argued that Judeo-Christian theology had swept away pagan animism and normalized exploitation of the natural world. He says,
"In Antiquity every tree, every spring, every stream, every hill had its own genius loci, its guardian spirit. These spirits were accessible to men, but were very unlike men; centaurs, fauns, and mermaids show their ambivalence. Before one cut a tree, mined a mountain, or dammed a brook, it was important to placate the spirit in charge of that particular situation, and to keep it appeased. By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects."
For an Indian reader, what is described in these words sounds very familiar, with a difference that the past tense in these words is present tense for them.
In another seminal work “ Man's Responsibility for Nature : Ecological Problems and Western Traditions “ (1974) the author John Passmore uses the prevalence of pagan animism in the 'western societies' and their 'western tradition' during their early or pre-Christian history as one of the defenses for 'western traditions.'.
The point is that Indic folk and tribal traditions that survived for millennia and continue to live vibrantly, through 'Hinduism', the cultural complex to which they contributed their features immensely while retaining their individuality, of course, with the influences of the other members of the cultural complex, did not get due prominence in all these global discussions on the potential of pagan /indigenous /ethnic religious traditions towards the contemporary environmentalism.
Indic Academy's Inter-Gurukula University Centre would like to organize a conference on “ Indic and Pagan Environmentalism” to reclaim this due prominence and to join the global efforts in the direction of repairing our environment and saving the earth, by bringing Indic and other pagan traditions on to the same platform .
Sample previous research work :
“Environment As woman: a new perspective towards Village Goddess worship” by Nagaraj Paturi :Paryaavarana Bhaarati, Journal of Environmentalist Studies Society for Information and Dissemination on Environment ( Telugu)March-May,1994
“Ecological Interpretation of Mother Goddess Worship” by Nagaraj Paturi at the annual conference of FOSSILS, Purameri, Vadagara, Kozhikkode, Kerala1996
“Ritualistic self-expression: An article on the Bonalu , annual village goddess festival in twin- metro-cities” by Nagaraj Paturi , The Hindu dated 29th July , 2004
“Cultural And Ecological Dimensions Of Sacred Groves In India” by Kailash C. Malhotra et al., June, 2001 Published by: Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi & Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal.
“The sacred groves of Western Ghats in India” by Madhav Gadgil, V. D. Vartak, Economic Botany, April 1976, Volume 30, Issue 2, pp 152–160
“Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Sacred Groves and Conservation of Biodiversity in the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve of India” by Chandra Prakash Kala, Journal of Environmental Protection, 2011, 2, 967-973
“Tribal Communities and Their Age-Old Sacred Groves: A Fair Fieldwork in the Purulia District of West Bengal, India” by Arup Kanti Konar, Studies of Tribes and Tribals, Volume 8, 2010, Issue 1.
“The Sacred Groves of South India: Ecology, Traditional Communities and Religious Change”
By M. D. Subash Chandran, J. Donald Hughes, Social Compass, September 1, 1997
“Spirituality and ecology of sacred groves in Tamil Nadu, India “ by Somaiah Sundarapandian, Unasylva 54(213):53-58 · January 2003
“Of Gods, Trees and Boundaries: Divine Conservation in Rajasthan” by Ann Grodzins Gold and Bhoju Ram Gujar , Asian Folklore Studies ,Vol. 48, No. 2 (1989), pp. 211-229
“Gods, Groves and the Culture of Nature in Kerala” by J. R. Freeman Modern Asian Studies Vol. 33, No. 2 (May, 1999), pp. 257-302
Some Suggested Topics :
1. Environmentalist implications of Yakshi worship in Kerala
2. Nature worship in Hindu rural beliefs : Examples from Bengal/ Karnataka / Guajarat /……..
3. Worship of animals in Hindu folk ritual practices: Examples from Telangana/ Goa/Assam /……..
4. Environmentalist morals/meanings of Tamil/ Marathi/ Odiya / Bhojpuri/………. fairy tales
5. ……………………… festival of Kerala/ Andhra Pradesh / Bihar/ …….. as an agricultural festival involving fertility worship.
6. Earth as divine in the folk culture of Madhya Pradesh / Tripura/ Manipur/ Maharashtra
For conference details visit:
http://www.indictoday.com/announcements/conference-indic-pagan-environmentalism/
Ramaratnam S.
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