Epics of India - Vinay Kalvacherla

Topic 1: Goddess Annapurna Because I already have a relatively strong background in Hindu mythology, I thought it would be interesting to look into topics that are relatively more obscure - this would both allow me to learn new things and would make for very interesting topics! One of these is on the goddess of food and nourishment, Annapurna Devi. The inspiration from this came from the Annapurna Stotram - a prayer/hymn written in worship of Goddess Annapurna by Adi Shankaracharya. I really enjoy listening to this particular rendition of the stotram , and when I saw the English translation, thought it would be a very interesting topic to see how Annapurna Devi aligns with the rest of Goddess tradition - especially considering how she is described in this particular stotram . Topic 2: The Purusha This is yet another interesting topic that I thought would be very fun to learn about after taking Dr. Moodie's Introduction to Hinduism class last semester. The Purusha Suktam is a ...

Two Turtle Jatakas The Turtle and the King There is a turtle that a king's young sons think is a demon  King - loves sons a lot  Sons - quite wimpy, seem entitled Many suggestions are tossed about as to how to kill this poor "demon" One man suggests throwing it in the lake The turtle (who is very smart) uses reverse psychology to get them to throw him into the lake, where he lives happily  What if the turtle tried to tell people he was not a demon? The Turtle and the Geese Turtle made friends with Geese Geese invited him over; since he can't fly, he was supposed to clamp his mouth on a stick that the geese carried (aka, if he spoke or opened his mouth, he would fall from the air and die)  Turtle heard children commenting on how geese were carrying him, fell and died (because he opened his mouth)  Moral: think before you speak; the turtle was foolish Potential plot twist: the geese were fooling him and taking him to kill and eat him G...

Seeing the reading list for this class makes me extremely excited for many reasons. I am not only a Religious Studies major, but I am also of Hindu background, so I am familiar with all the various stories and mythologies associated with the Ramayana and Mahabharatha to some extent. Additionally, last semester, I took Dr. Moodie's Introduction to Hinduism class, so I had more exposure there, too. In her class, we read R. K. Narayan's edition of the Ramayana, so this semester, I I will read the other version . I am actually quite excited for this reading, because R.K. Narayan's edition did not include the story of the twins Lava and Kusha and of Sita's departure. Another item of interest for me that I hope to look more into is the character of Bhumi - Mother Earth - that seems to play a part both in the Ramayana (with Sita's departure) and in the Mahabharatha with some of Krishna's feats, like the killing of Narakasura. Goddess Bhumi also overlaps the super inte...