Birds of Ramayana: Landscape Paradigms in Indian Mythology

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Landscape Paradigms in Indian Mythology - VANAJA Lecture

Was invited to give a lecture "Landscape Paradigms in Indian Mythology" within the VANAJA lecture series at the Karve Institute's BN College of Architecture for Women, Pune. The lecture presented the tremendous geographic panorama of India's mythology.
Thank you Asmita Divekar
Some photographs in the poster by Shekhar Ranade and Anirudh Chaoji

About the author

Bharat Bhushan - Biologist, birdwatcher, teacher, trainer.A lifelong eclectical and serendipitous vagrant in knowledge systems and within the mind.

Professor, Environmental Planning. Masters and Doctorate in Field Ornithology from the Bombay Natural History Society, University of Mumbai.Rediscovered the Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser, a scrubland bird in the Eastern Ghats, nearly 86 years after its earlier record.Located in Pune.Travels in the Subcontinent from Kataragama in southern Sri Lanka to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, crossing the rivers and mountain ranges from the South to the upper Himalayas.Keen student about ancient knowledge systems and sciences of the Indian Subcontinent. Continually explores the convergence of contemporary science with the ancient spiritual stories, myths, folklore and renditions about the people and traditions of South Asia. Several popular blogs and social networking group pages disseminate writings and essays about ancient knowledge. Journeying within the mind of the devotee, his recent book, Katha Panduranga (translated and published in Marathi by Vishwakarma Publications), explored the sharp edge of bhakti of the common faithful.

About the book

Birds have significant roles in the Ramayana. The epic progresses because of the birds at crucial moments. If Jatayu, Sampati and Garuda would not have been included in the story-line, the Ramayana could not have been written as it is now available to us. The two vulture-brothers, Sampati and Jatayu, are very crucial and essential individuals in the Ramayana. Were they indeed vultures? Or, were they a superior race of warriors who had vultures as their totems? Without Krauncha, the crane in distress at the death of its beloved companion, it is perhaps most certain, that the Ramayana would never have been written. Depicted as the sage-crow, the rendition of the Ramayana by Kakabhushundi is regarded as the first of the Ramayanas. These five birds, Kakabhushundi, Krauncha, Jatayu, Sampati and Garuda were not meant to be mythical within the Ramayana. Their presence and roles in the Ramayana are crucial, and certainly larger than their lives. Their association with the Ramayana enlarges upon their natural history. Enjoy this collection of essays about the five birds of the Ramayana.