The Multivalence of an Epic - Retelling the Ramayana in South India and Southeast Asia

This volume examines The Ramaya?a traditions of South India and Southeast Asia. Bringing together 19 well-known scholars in Ramaya?a studies from Cambodia, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, UK, and USA, this thought-provoking and elegantly illustrated volume engages with the inherent plurality, diversity, and adaptability of the Ramaya?a in changing socio-political, religious, and cultural contexts.

The journey and localization of the Ramaya?a is explored in its manifold expressions - from classical to folk, from temples and palaces to theatres and by-lanes in cities and villages, and from ancient to modern times. Regional Ramaya?as from different parts of South India and Southeast Asia are placed in deliberate juxtaposition to enable a historically informed discussion of their connected pasts across land and seas. The three parts of this volume, organized as visual, literary, and performance cultures, discuss the sculpted, painted, inscribed, wr