Pravaha

In this episode, Revanth and Prathik are for the first time questioned, and by a former guest of the show, and a common friend Madhav (https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WrKQFhGgE1KOX8qg87ifx). Madhav, being the impossibly friendly person that he is, and a man of patient curiosity perused some of the episodes of this show and quizzed the hosts about the prehistory of the show, the hosts' own motivations in making it, and the process of designing and producing Pravaha. In this episode, there are glimpses of the hosts' particular fascinations with history, idiosyncrasy in learning and life, and bond with each other (when this episode has released, the two friends have met each for the first time in the great cities of the American East Coast). Finally this episode is an ode to the show itself - the hosts meditate on the mark that three seasons of Pravaha have left upon them.

We take another step in the theme of memorialisation but now let us jump to modernity, almost said to be set into India by the coming of the Portuguese on the West Coast of India. In this episode, we turn to these firangs from various European nationalities who passed in this land and ponder on the predicament of dying at a 'home' away from home, often as children. There are those who die from disease, some from old age, and many from war: from the Meurons in Srirangapatna to soldiers and generals in 1857-8 in the battlefields of Delhi and Lucknow. Almost always their passing is like poetry and hence also the words on the epitaphs. This is a personal episode where Revanth and Prathik read the epitaphs that they personally visited, sprinkled across India - from Machilipatnam to Vellore to Bhima-Koregaon outside Pune.

In this episode, Prathik and Revanth discuss the history and "philosophy" of the practice of Sati. They study early references to it across historical sources ranging epics, classical poetry in Tamil and Sanskrit, Dharmashastras and legal texts, and inscriptions. They examine the arguments put forth by advocates, and really ask if it has anything to do with suicide of Shiva's wife. The podcast spends time looking at memorial practices around the committal of Sati. They then trace the practice through colonial records and European literature (which shows disturbing degree of obsession and also fascination with the practice). Finally they discuss the unfortunate fact of Sati's presence even in post-colonial "modern" India.

One of the most fascinating story-telling techniques in the Indian tradition is the hero stone. Sprinkled across the subcontinent, these memorials depict a macho man (but is it always a man or even human?) who has passed, from war, cattle-raids, or murder and must be remembered for eternity. In these episode, Prathik and Revanth discuss the logic and morality of hero stones (and hence also ideas of death entailed), seek to capture their range in style, age, and intention. They then proceed to examine some actual stones and attempt an appreciation of the fine art that they can be.

References: Memorial Stones: A Study of Their Origin, Significance, and Variety by Gunther Sontheimer and S Settar
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/s-settar-and-gunther-d-sontheimer-ed-memorial-stones-a-study-of-their-orign-significance-and-variety-iah-series-no2-south-asian-studies-no-xiii-xii-393-pp-dharwad-institute-of-indian-art-history-karnatak-university-and-heidelberg-south-asia-insttute-university-of-heidelberg-1982-rs-175/331C1A412CD86FED64BF10293F0E4076

In this episode, Dr Amy Allocco discusses her extensive ethnographic work on the Pūvāṭaikkāri rituals of certain communities in Urban Tamilnadu with Prathik and Revanth.

She speaks of how the dead are invited back into the household by the surviving members of their family, the young married woman being their hosts. What ensue are conversations between the living and the dead. In this moving conversation we hear of the deceased being a source of comfort for their families - guiding them through financial difficulties, marital troubles, and domestic conflicts.

It is presumed that the goal of what we now call "Hinduism" is to attain mokṣa or to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death and be away from the material world. But what if a Hindu's goal is to come back to their family after death and help them in their life?

Muharram as all are aware, memorialises with much grief, the killing of Hussain and Hasan at Karbala. However, in Telangana, a much different formation is seen where the chronology of events, the relationships between the Prophet's family relations are played around with, and best, it becomes a festival of the Sufi saints of the region. Hindus, especially from the lower castes come also to celebrate this festival. What about death, and its conception in Islam and Hinduism allow this to happen? To shed light on this fascinating phenomenon from the Deccan, Pravaha invites in this episode, poet, historian, and critic, Prof. Afsar Mohammad from University of Pennsylvania.

While death remains among the few universal certainties, how is it to be treated when is to occur to the "great" men? Can we let our heroes, divine heroes pass like common men? Prathik and Revanth have a look at the passing of two mahāpuruṣas, perhaps the most adored of all in the Indian traditions, the Buddha and Rama by closely reading a representative document for each: the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and the dedicated section in Valmiki Ramayana, texts largely regarded contemporary to each other and among the first comprehensive representations of the said heroes. As the divergences between the two unfold, and of both from the everyday owing to their "superhuman" composition, the essentiality of death to humanness, becomes only intense.

A fitting inaugural episode, here Prathik and Revanth together read the first Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka which envisages death as a creative force. They first set up the Upanishads in their context and where they stand in the making up of Hinduism before diving into the first subchapter of the text where Mrityu (death) eats, moves, talks, thinks, and even copulates in order to create the ingredients that make the cosmos. Of course, inconclusively they ponder about what these imaginations could mean and to us. They also briefly discuss Death which occurs as a person in the Katha Upanishad, which appears like a link between the first Upanishads and then Hindu metaphysics at large.

Prathik and Revanth are back with an exciting new season in a somewhat revamped version of the show. They catch (you) up on whereabouts, wish each other for Dasara, and you for Halloween (they are in America now!). And finally we hear the outline, for this season on 'Death', in this short curtain-raiser episode.

In this episode, Girija, who is pursuing her Master's in Archaeology in London speaks to Prathik and Revanth on a subject that they could not know less about. She explores the historiographical limitations that beset the study of Indian arms and armoury, on the possible routes a story of weaponry could take, the range of sources that she would like studied from coinage, to literary accounts, to sculptures, and the political factors that influenced the breadth of armoury in British India. She dishes out several delicious anecdotes in the course of this episode. 

Girija's book in Marathi on Indian Arms can be found here: https://www.bookganga.com/eBooks/Books/Details/5231888159222692759

In this episode, Revanth speaks on the culturally and socially heterodox world that Andhra is. He discusses the historiographical issues that have kept the region out of much scrutiny and proceeds to explore the trajectories of castes through nearly 2000 years of history. Prathik and Revanth discuss on the ineffectiveness of Varna as a scheme to understand premodern society and share thoughts on the fragility of the Brahmin identity, the emergence of the dominant farmer castes, and the role of martial culture in the creation of castes and rise of those therein as against the position on a purity-pollution spectrum. Finally, Revanth also addresses the spectacular ideological shifts that occurred in the 17th century in South India that also allowed the assertion of the 'Shudra' as a worthy identity.  

BSL Hanumantha Rao's bibliography: https://www.google.co.in/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22B.+S.+L.+Hanumantha+Rao%22

Cynthia Talbot, 'Precolonial India in Practice': https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195136616.001.0001/acprof-9780195136616

Review of 'Symbols of Substance': https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/026272809401400209

In this episode, Prathik and Revanth host Prateek Pattanaik to speak on what makes his heart throb, the heritage of Odisha and in particular, Odissi Music. Prateek walks us through the thousand year-long history of the music from its dedicated origins in the court of Lord Jagannatha of Puri to the palaces of the Gangas and Jagapatis to the ferries on Mahanadi and bullock carts that crisscross the countryside. They interrogate the various literary forms that sit with this form of music, its relations with other musical forms not least the megalithic Carnatic and Hindustani systems, the legacy vis-a-vis musical instruments and technology, and critically the classical-folk dichotomy. Prateek informs us also about the sociological and political factors and forces that make the life and spread of this musical form deeply troubled. But for the most part we, the audiences just listen to Prateek sing. 

Prateek's Youtube Channel, the database for much of what is discussed in this episode and more:  

https://www.youtube.com/c/pattaprateek

Dating to the mid 5th Century CE, the Mandsaur Silk Weavers' Inscription in Malwa is an excellent instance of a chronicle of a workers community in a Sanskrit medium. Written in rich metres and full of ornate figures of speech, this document can help us construct social histories of the deep past and Prathik and Revanth in this episode attempt exactly that. They as usual appreciate the aesthetic power of this document before querying what one can learn about migration patterns, corporate structures around silk-weaving, the power of choice when it came to job, social mobility, and of course, the elephant in the room: caste. 

The text of the Mandsaur Inscription was first published in: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater

On the Aulikara Dynasty: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/23546

Prathik and Revanth welcome the stellar podcaster and journalist Arjun Narayanan also known as The Madraswallah to talk about Bharat Ek Khoj, India's beloved Doordarshan historical serial run by the finest Shyam Benegal. Narayanan speaks on the making of the show, the reception that it saw, and the shape of the history that is presented on screen. They investigate on the relationship between Nehru's Discovery of India, the historical imagination therein and the philosophy of the show. Finally they ask how the show fares today and how one ought to watch it in light of the volatile and sharply polarised society of today. 

Madraswallah's website: https://madraswallah.com/

Madraswallah on Bharat Ek Khoj: https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/2E9Gw4idXNaZcSnUJrQILp 

Bharat Ek Khoj on Youtube from Prasar Bharati Archives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6hYG_mIfU&list=PLqtVCj5iilH4w0Y8KBB4fqBu25T0sGhXG

At the turn of millennium, a new language was unlocked in the Tamil country, as almost entirely a written register - and it combined the vast vocabulary of Sanskrit with the syntax of Tamil, the gem and coral of languages; hence Manipravalam. This week Prathik speaks on this subject which he regards to be his bread and butter and where his heart, life, and bread lay. He discusses with Revanth, the history of the development of the language, the range of literatures that Manipravalam found itself to be put to use to, the social and political implications of the language, and of course curious connection it has with Southern Vaishnavism. Revanth tries also to understand the orality of the tongue in contemporary Tamil Nadu. 

Some readings: 

The Manipravāla literature of the Śrīvaiṣṇava Ācāryas, 12th to 15th century A.D., KKA Venkatachari, 1978. 

https://suganyasmusingsscribblings.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/kerala-manipravalam-vs-tamil-srivaisnava-manipravalam/

http://www.manipravala.com/wp/

For the place of Manipravalam in the History of Tamil see - Tamil: A Biography, David Shulman, 2016. (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=97806740599240 

Unquestionably the world is swimming through an era of majoritarian populism where reason has been subjugated by ethnic, nationalist, and sectarian emotions and sentiments. How then does Gandhi, a man who led mass movements and a figure remembered for deeply sentimental stirring speeches and gestures, appear before such a present? Prathik and Revanth invite to this provocative discussion, Madhav Nayar, a young historian of Protests in Modern India to speak on his hero, Gandhi. This episode is a survey of not just the past but a meditation on the fundamental principles and ideas that define the current world. 

Do check our episode on Gandhi and Tagore from the last season: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Ijv5f7UWfHlpnsY0etZ8k

Some of Madhav's web articles: https://livewire.thewire.in/politics/meme-and-the-mahatma-gandhian-silence-and-the-social-media-age/

https://www.thebookreviewindia.org/reforming-and-reformulating-hinduism/?fbclid=IwAR1THhGfuDUcDyyygGObm5U1Jta93Vp4-4xrVVqYq-NfP5Q-ssUHvcB06xo

https://thewire.in/culture/why-gandhi-matters-for-young-indians

https://livewire.thewire.in/politics/the-importance-of-being-a-gandhian-hindu-in-new-india/

Other resources alluded to in the episode: 

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/jammu-kashmir-article-370-scrapped-special-status-amit-shah-narendra-modi-bjp-5880797/

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674066724

Prathik speaks on Pazhayarai, a pilgrimage site, that Tamil Vaishnava and Shaiva poets have sung about, occurs in the hagiographies of saints and philosophers, and has a cozy connection to the Chola Dynasty. Revanth speaks on one of the most celebrated necropolises in Indian history, Khuldabad in Northern Maharashtra, where thousands of Sufi saints are said to have been buried and a couple of rulers and nobles including Sultans of Ahmednagar, Nawabs of Hyderabad, and the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

"Woohoo." Prathik and Revanth catch (you) up on their whereabouts and what has been exciting them lately. 

And then of course, they proceed to the subject of the podcast - forgotten or rather diminished cities. Each paints the history and legacy of cities that had spectacular presence in the historical record but today stand somewhat decrepit. Prathik speaks on Pazhayarai, a pilgrimage site, that Tamil Vaishnava and Shaiva poets have sung about, occurs in the hagiographies of saints and philosophers, and has a cozy connection to the Chola Dynasty. Revanth speaks on one of the most celebrated necropolises in Indian history, Khuldabad in Northern Maharashtra, where thousands of Sufi saints are said to have been buried and a couple of rulers and nobles including Sultans of Ahmednagar, Nawabs of Hyderabad, and the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. 

Prathik and Revanth are back with another season of Pravaha podcast. They even have guests this time! The first episode drops on the evening of February 11th, the Friday. 

In this episode, Prathik charts the intellectual history of art and the genealogy of 'poetics', i.e. the philosophy of what good poetry is, how it is composed, and how poetry can even be defined. Revanth is introduced to the meaning of Rasa in Bharata Muni and exposed to the debate between the Alankarikas and the wonderful Dhvani theory of Anandavardhana. The episode is as rasabharita (juicy) ride as poetry itself. We of course at the near-end ask why must one even read literature. 

[The cover art is inspired Mammata's poem that Prathik recites two kick-start the show, lauding the exceptional powers of the Kavi, poet] 

Do read Moriz Winternitz's History of Indian Literature, Vol III for an overview of Kavya Literature. (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499822)

Notes: Annamayya's anthology has been edited by David Shulman and V Narayana Rao (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/god-on-the-hill-9780195182842?cc=us&lang=en&)

For a full collection of Annamacharya's poetry: https://pedia.desibantu.com/annamacharya/  (In Telugu)

A history of Alvar Bhakti can be read in Bharati Jagannathan's 'Approaching the Divine': https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/17672

The Alvars' Nalayira Divyaprabandham can be accessed at: https://www.dravidaveda.org/      (In Tamil)

As listeners might have realised, this episode was excerpted from a video discussion between Prathik and Revanth.

Notes: Annamayya's anthology has been edited by David Shulman and V Narayana Rao (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/god-on-the-hill-9780195182842?cc=us&lang=en&)

For a full collection of Annamacharya's poetry: https://pedia.desibantu.com/annamacharya/  (In Telugu)

A history of Alvar Bhakti can be read in Bharati Jagannathan's 'Approaching the Divine': https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/17672

The Alvars' Nalayira Divyaprabandham can be accessed at: https://www.dravidaveda.org/      (In Tamil)

As listeners might have realised, this episode was excerpted from a video discussion between Prathik and Revanth. 

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche is remembered as the controversial renegade who gave us "God is Dead" and a philosopher the Nazi Party chose as the National Philosopher figure for Germany, but he is obviously far more than that. At his peak moments he is a high voltage thinker full of force and fizz. A lover of music, a hater of Christianity and a Prophet for art, Nietzsche is a delight to read and think about. In this episode of Pravaha, Revanth discusses with Prathik how Nietzsche was inspired by India's textual-philosophical traditions and more importantly how India landed on his laps. 

'I am Dynamite', Sue Prideaux: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555768/i-am-dynamite-by-sue-prideaux/

Books of Nietzsche: 

Human All Too Human (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38145/38145-h/38145-h.htm)

Thus Spake Zarathustra (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1998/1998-h/1998-h.htm)

Birth of Tragedy (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51356/51356-h/51356-h.htm)

The Antichrist (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19322/19322-h/19322-h.htm)

Ambedkar on Nietzsche: Collected works of BR Ambedkar, Vol. 3: https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/amb/Volume_03.pdf

Papers on Nietzsche: 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/20717840

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2709223

https://www.jstor.org/stable/27549854

In this episode, Revanth speaks to Prathik from his reading of the Jataka Tales from the Buddhist Pali Canon, about the various kinds of travels that Ancient Indians embarked on - pilgrimages, conquest, trade, and even Ranbir Kapoor-esque post-breakup wanderlust moments. In this discussion along with a large part of North India, Madras, Sri Lanka, South East Asia, and even West Asia feature. According to Revanth, the Jatakas are quite insistent on the 'virtue' of traveling. Tune in right away to find out why. 

For a survey of travel in Ancient India: Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India (https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3507)

Transport and Communications in India Prior to Steam Locomotion: Water transport https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Transport_and_Communications_in_India_Pr.html?id=0zWEzgEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y

EB Cowell's Jatakas' edition can be found here - https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/j1/index.htm

An Introduction to Buddhism: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-introduction-to-buddhism/9CA7B749D45ABAAB372422AEEE863A97

Gandhi is known more as a shrewd politician than a saint. His political prudence involved often, unleashing an aggressive and radical streak making him an obstinate public figure. Weighing against his politics of the soul and spectacular civility were moments of gross ignorance. In each dark moment of Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore emerges from the history books as his conscience keeper. Tagore encouraged critical thinking, kindness and compassion, open-mindedness, and reason. Here we chart the various stages where Gandhi and Tagore either engaged or had an overt showdown. 

[This episode was excerpted from a video discussion of ours so anomalies can be attributed to this fact]

Further reading: This episode is substantially based on Sabyasachi Bhattacharya's book on the Gandhi-Tagore interaction. (https://www.nbtindia.gov.in/books_detail__6__general-titles__151__the-mahatma-and-the-poet.nbt)

Tagore's Nationalism: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40766/40766-h/40766-h.htm

Guha on Gandhi: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/196463/gandhi-the-years-that-changed-the-world-1914-1948-by-ramachandra-guha/

Gandhi and Tagore on Khajuraho: https://churumuri.blog/2012/03/15/why-tagore-was-right-and-gandhi-was-not/

The Kamasutra alongside Yoga and Ayurveda is what the world looks at India for with longing eyes, and that's how the cities in the hippie trail sell India too. But what is all this fuss about? What actually is the text? Also, the Kamasutra is famously accommodating of non-binary genders in its scheme of describing sexual relations but apparently there are several holes. Revanth asks. Prathik answers. Revanth listens. Nay, we all listen. 

In this episode Prathik and Revanth discuss forms of protest against caste and patriarchy in the writings of the Lingayat saints including Akka Mahadevi and Basavanna, and the Marathi works on Lord Vitthala, especially Eknath and Chokhamela. The discussion is based on two chapters from a book edited by Vijaya Ramaswamy titled Devotion and Dissent in Indian History (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/devotion-and-dissent-in-indian-history/7FE36F12876ADB2EACB24DE33B48413F#:~:text=In%20contrast%20to%20sectarian%20movements,love%20which%20cut%20across%20communal%2C). 

[This episode is excerpted from a video discussion for the Sahagamana Channel hence certain anomalies may be ignored.] 

Further reading: 

Poetry of the Vachanakaras: A.K. Ramanujan's Speaking of Siva (https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/196174216674_10157052984731675.pdf)

H.S. Shivaprakash's I keep vigil of Rudra (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260103187_I_Keep_Vigil_of_Rudra_The_Vachanas)

All Vachanas in Kannada can be found at: https://vachana.sanchaya.net/

On Andal: Andal - The Autobiography of a Goddess (https://glli-us.org/2020/12/30/south-asian-literature-in-translation-andal-the-autobiography-of-a-goddess/)

Andal's Garden (https://www.amazon.in/Andals-Garden-Ornament-Devotion-Srivilliputtur/dp/9383243104?language=en_IN)

Varkari Literatute: Rise of a Folk God: Vitthal of Pandharpur (https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.001.0001/acprof-9780199777594)

From Tukaram: http://tukaram.com/english/anthology.htm 

Says Tuka: (https://www.amazon.in/Says-Tuka-Poetrywala-Classic-Tukaram/dp/9382749101)

In this episode Prathik and Revanth talk about themselves, struggle to introduce the podcast, and fail to be celebrities in their very maverick Rapid Fire Round. 

Links to writings and work of Revanth and Prathik -

Sahagamana: https://www.sahagamana.com/

Revanth's blog: https://prajnanambrahmablog.wordpress.com/

On the 'Entertainment Value of Telugu Mythologicals': https://www.filmcompanion.in/readers-articles/telugu-movies-bhookailas-nt-rama-rao-akkineni-nageswara-rao-the-mythological-dram-that-is-funny-sv-ranga-rao-jamuna-hemalatha/

Prathik's talk 'Shringara - A timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oq2iTk-fPY

Sahagamana Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeusBHDHbsIGFSb9uWOU8w/videos

Pravaha Youtube Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DOQDvk1uQE&list=PL7EII7sxCamtZW-WFG_bBitUsgkAisQuR

Instagram pages - 

Prathik: https://www.instagram.com/prathik_murali/

Revanth: https://www.instagram.com/suribabu.lavangam/

On Sangam Vocabulary: https://www.instagram.com/sangam_sol/

Revanth's meme page: https://www.instagram.com/thesleepingbuddha/