Lecture 1

Question 1

who is Ganesha

Answer 1

• lord/deity of beginnings, remover of objects
• helps prevent bad things from happening, often found in doorways
• Can honour him through speech
• Described as; elephant head with human body, travels around on mouse, is balance of power/strength and love
• Story; arrogant king, people prayed for help from the king, Ganesha visits king and is gracious, offers to feed gnash until full and satisfied. Ganesha ate everything and was not satisfied, threatens to eat king, king is scared and begs for him not to, Ganesha call upon his parents (deities Shiva and Parvati), feeds on his mother’s milk and is then satisfied
• By invoking Ganesha, you invoke all of his family/relationships

Question 2

How to invoke Ganesha

Answer 2

there are 8 temples to Ganesha in Maharashtra

-linking of these temples links to religious

Question 3

Is Ganesha political

Answer 3

yes, festival developed as a religious festival and to gather to increase local/national sensibilities of the time against british rule

Question 4

Who is Sarasvati

Answer 4

goddess of learning, music and language

-holds a fiery associated with language, book for learning, instrument for music

Question 5

do hindu deities remain the same over time

Answer 5

no, they evolve and change overtime, not much focus on historical continuity

Question 6

how did the term ‘hinduism’ come to be

Answer 6

hindu related to river in india (now called the Indus river but used to be the Sindhu river)

• In english; indra, indus and hindu
• is a 15c (1655) word that hindu relates to a religion of people, used to be an ethnic/geographical distinguisher

Question 7

how long has the term hindu been around

Answer 7

over 25 000 years

Question 8

what are some approaches to defining Hinduism

Answer 8

1. specific types of orthodoxy (authoritative core of some kind)
2. ‘way of life’ which is popular among modern hindus and especially outside of india
3. hindu as a legal category to encompass and exclude
4. orientalist constructions

Question 9

explain the approach “specific types of orthodoxy (authoritative core of some kind)” to hinduism

Answer 9

• sanatana dharma

- varnasrama dharma

Question 10

what is sanatana dharma

Answer 10

the ‘eternal dharma’, the dharma for all times and all people

Question 11

what is varnasrama dharma

Answer 11

dharma according to one’s social position and stage in life (what should one do in a situation)

Question 12

explain the approach ‘orientalist constructions’ to hinduism

Answer 12

orientalism, by Edward Said (1978); palestinian Chritian scholar critiqued how ‘the east’ is configured in scholarship, international relations, etc as;
an insert, static place
decadent, exotic backgrounds, traditional, irrational and feminine
a site which can be studied and examied
contrast to ‘the west’, viewed as dynamic, rational, technologically superior, modern, so that patrons and superior attitude was adopted towards colonial populations

Question 13

what are the two sides to the colonialism coin

Answer 13

demonization and eroticization

Question 14

how long of british colonialism

Answer 14

about 350 years, 1612-1947

part of the colonial project was s’the civilizing mission’