Preface
Acknowledgements
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I
1. The Epic Across Literary Cultures / Harish Trivedi
2. A Comparatist’s Reading of Epic as Genre / Ipshita Chanda
3. The First English Translation of Mahabharata: Authorship/Authority, Translation/Utility Matters / Nandini Bhattacharya
Part II
4. The Ramayana: Issues and Problems / Mohan Ramanan
5. Ezhuthaccan’s Adhyatma Ramayana and the Ramayana Tradition / K. Satchidanandan
6. Reading Ramayana in Two Contexts: From Old Tibet to Maad Dialect of Rajasthan / M.N. Rajesh and Bhim Singh
7. Mappila Ramayanam: Retelling the Epic among Malabari Muslims / Sharone K. Meeran
Part III
8. Can Rhetoric Decide Authorship? Sri Aurobindo and the Problem of the Mahabharata / Sachidananda Mohanty
9. Krsna and the Mystic Number 8 / Indrajit Bandyopadhyay
10. Aksatayoni: Regaining Virginity in the Mahabharata / Gargi Bhattacharya
11. Queering Kasirama: Myths of Gender Reversal and Transvestism in the Medieval Bengali Mahabharata / Soham Pain
Part IV
12. The Epic Imagination and its (Dis)continuities: The Mewati Mahabharata / Shail Mayaram
13. Delineating Adivasi Ethos in the Bhili Bharath / Kirti Nakhare
14. Epic Narratives in Kathakali / B. Hariharan
15. Ramakatha Adaptations in North-East India / Monbinder Kaur
Part V
16. Intersections of the Feminine in Silappadikaram / Bharathi Harishankar
17. Positioning Manimekalai as an a-Vaidiki Epic: Contemporary Reception Context in Tamil / C.T. Indra
18. Bibi Nanchari, the Muslim Goddess-Consort / Sreedevi Yadavalli
19. Waris Shah’s Heer: An Epic or a Kissa? / Rana Nayar
20. Transformation of Creation Myth into Religion: Ladakhi Tribal Epic Ling Kesar and Tibetan Epic Gesar / Stanzin Shakya
21. Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s Loona: Deconstructing the Feminine / Vivek Sachdeva
About the Contributors