Diamond Oberoi Vahali (Ambedkar University Delhi)
The Kunknas Ramayana, is a folk epic of the Kunknas indigenous people who mainly reside in Gujarat and Maharashtra in India. This paper attempts to discuss the manner in which this epic humanises the anguish of Ravana who otherwise is portrayed in an extremely malicious manner in most central representations of the Ramayana. I would like to affirm that folk narratives, though outwardly coded in simplistic terms, carry within them layered and complex understandings of life. The Kunknas Ramayana opens itself to diverse perspectives around the peripheries and I will be focussing on many of these perspectives in my analysis.
Part of 04-03 Oral Traditions of the Indian Subcontinent: Orality as Means of Re-Centering the Margins [hybrid], Friday, October 14, 8:00 am–10:00 am