Book Review “ Death ends life, not a relationship ,” as Mitch Albom put it. That is why, we have so many rituals associated with death. Minakshi Dewan’s book, The Final Farewell [HarperCollins, 2023], is a well-researched book about those rituals. The book starts with an elaborate description of the Sikh rituals associated with death and cremation, before moving on to Islam, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and finally Hinduism. After that, it’s all about the various traditions and related details of Hindu final rites. A few chapters are dedicated to the problems of widows in India, gender discrimination in the last rites, and the problem of unclaimed dead bodies. There is a chapter titled ‘Grieving Widows in Hindi Cinema’ too. Death and its rituals form an unusual theme for a book. Frankly, I don’t find the topic stimulating in any way. Obviously, I didn’t buy this book. It came to me as quite many other books do – for reasons of their own. I read the book finally, having shelv
Lovely art!
ReplyDeleteNice post!
Relevant question!
If only the culture-guardians understood it, Amit!
DeleteNice artistic work. i agree with you.
ReplyDeleteWhen politics enters, art acquires many meanings which are not dreamt of by the artist!
DeleteA good thought with a meaningful question . Thanks for sharing .
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Vishal.
DeleteI hope that these Indian talibans don't take it one day as their life's mission to destroy heritage of Khujaraho and Konark because "it is against Indian culture"!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I fear too, Sunil ji. Perhaps, our country is getting a bit too religionised!
DeleteYou do not need to go to exotic places to see erotic art in temples, Matheikal. You send the Durga Vahinis to Kanchipuram, that holy town not too far from Chennai and I will shock them. It should be the same in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Srirangam ... no temple artist was devoid of human urges to showcase his, what we call pornographic talents!
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but the first photograph, I remember to have read or seen in an article about historic sculpture, recently found somewhere in Kerala.
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Yes, I too have seen such works of art in many temples.
DeleteI'm really not a connoisseur of painting and sculpture. Sometimes I too wonder where lies the difference between art and pornography.
What I find more detestable is when the so-called guardians of culture and religion choose to attack some and leave the others...
The present art exhibition of the nude and the naked in the Delhi gallery has paintings and sculptures from olden periods too and from other places as well. Even Ravi Verma's paintings are there. So the present one must be the same as the one you're referring to. I took it from the website of the Delhi Art Gallery. I don't visit art exhibitions, in fact.
Very relevant question.. i don't know the answer.. but i don't like this hulla baloo created over such issues. most are politically motivated.
ReplyDeleteEvery religion has such groups, unfortunately. Look at what they did to the 3 girls in Kashmir. Vishwaroopam. And now, Mani Ratnam's Kadal is facing the Christian ire...
DeleteReally.. this is sheer non sense. I wonder how much time people have got for these worthless activities. This world is strange.
DeleteI dont think there is any explicitly sexual depiction in Ajanta and Ellora caves!!
ReplyDeleteApparently those people in those times were not so afraid of the body and the nature of humans as much as today society is. Sex is natural. Priest and people who denounce that art just taking the human mind away from what is natural and present everywhere. the more this is oppressed the more it will be in your face because its natural to be natural in the whole universe. Why don't they cover the statue of David since his penis is showing? You body is your spirits only vehicle, why would it want to hide it?
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