South Asian Studies Center

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South Asian Studies Center is a research unit for South Asian Studies and funded by Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endowment Fund, Chulalongkorn University. The center established in June 2017 under the Institute of Asian Studies. The center conducts research on South Asian Studies Countries related to social, economic, cultural and political issues. South Asian Countries have diverse in term of culture, religions, languages. The main purposes of center are development, initiating and disseminating the knowledge in South Asian to the publicity, creating quality of Thai researchers and expanding the academic network within Thailand and global. Therefore, for developing the relationship between Thailand and the South Asian countries is necessary to understand the context of this region through conducted research in deeply analysis and systematic as a main mission of the South Asian Sian Studies Center of Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University.

Objective:

To be a research center, producing and disseminating knowledge about South Asian Region to publicity in national and global level.
To create and develop the quality of Thai researcher in the field of South Asian Region and to building research networks and academic cooperation between researchers and research institutes within the country and global.
To be a national information center that able to apply policy planning, promoting the knowledge about South Asian region.
To create an understanding and good relationship between nations.

Seminar

an intercultural performance based on a version of Ramayana as told by Balajan Beowa.

The epic, Ramayana, is a collective heritage of South & South East Asia.

This epic exists as religious and secular text in several languages and cultures.

South Asian Studies Center of Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Communication Arts Chulalongkorn university and Culture Monks & Soundacross are delighted to present an intercultural performance based on a version of Ramayana as told by Balajan Beowa.

This performance which is a collaborative act between artists from Thailand & India has emerged from ākāśa (katha’koli) performance practice brings the together the version of Balajan Beowa’s Ramayana & the epic Thai poem called “Phra Abhai Mani” by Sunthorn Phu. The performance will be in Thai, Bangla & English. The young artists from Thailand will be filling the performance with their perspectives, interpretations and poetics.

Performed by Janardan Ghosh, Faridah Rossanee Kaesman, Nat Theansawat & Sudipta Dawn.

Balajan Beowa

Balajan Beowa lived in the Tetulia village which is situated in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. She has infused the epic with the culture, language, ritual and customs of her village. Her version of Ramayana, although unique, has many similarities with the Thai Ramakien.

This performance is a tribute to her and many anonymous artists who are the voices of the subaltern.

This performance also brings into focus the folk theatre forms which are fluid and non dogmatic especially Gambhira which is practiced in Northern part of West Bengal and Rashdhari which was a folk theatre form in Rajasthan. In this manner we try to inform the young audience of our collective intangible cultural heritage and also adopt and apply the traditional and folk methods into contemporary performances and even in our daily verbal and non verbal acts of communication.

Synopsis

Ramayana is a living history, ever mysterious, embellishing our native pride with its endless narrations. I have encountered many versions and have cherished the plurality of a true epic.

The journey that began with the classical Valmiki’s lyrical composition moving into the labyrinth of the popular poetry of Tulsidas to a raw unfinished folk tale of Balajan Bewoa has intrigued me to revisit the phenomena again and again. We wish to work majorly on a few interesting episodes of Ramayana extricated from the various versions of Ramayana to reflect on contemporary time, life, politics and heteronormative codes of our society. Balajan Bewoa’s story on Ramayana collected from a village in Murshidabad District, WB is an interesting transposition of the epic into a regular mundane happening. The story has a resemblance with the approach found in the Jain Ramayana and the Adbhuta Ramayana, wherein we find Sita to be Ravana’s daughter. Apart from Ramayana, we have other interventions to enjoy the epic phenomena. The interpolation of the Thai epic poem, Phra Aphai Mani, in the text creates a new refrain celebrating the ancient myth Ramayana, juxtaposed by an anti-colonist work. Thailand also has its own version of Ramayana named Ramakien, the hero Phra Narai is an incarnation of Vishnu like Rama. The prince Phra Aphai Mani is also empowered by Vishnu. We are trying to locate the cross-cultural resonances all-over.

Reservation here : https://forms.gle/87hwY7qow517XpPP9

Details

Date

26 October 2022

Time

18:00

Institution location (South Asian Studies Center)

Institute of Asian Studies Chulalongkorn University

3th Floor, Prajadhipok-Rambhai Barni Building, Phyathai Road, Bangkok 10330, THAILAND

02-218-7466

02-255-1124

cu.southasia@gmail.com

southasiainsight.com

CUSouthAsianStudies