“Does God Speak Tamil or Sanskrit? On the Infancy of a Tamil Goddess”
A Lecture by Professor David Shulman, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Many languages claim to be God’s most intimate and natural medium of communication. In southern India this theme involves the relations between Sanskrit and Tamil, two languages that are often seen as hostile entities by Tamil nationalists. However, in pre-modern south India they were bound together in a complex and complimentary relationship. Dr. Shulman will explore the Tamil-Sanskrit interface as seen in a seventeenth-century text by the great poet Kumarakuruparar on the infancy of the goddess Minaksi. Each verse of this poem projects a strong vision of the Tamil language itself as a living, thinking, feeling goddess.
Location: The Castle, 225 Bay State Road
Reception immediately following
Time/Date: Tuesday March 5, 5:30pm
More info: scriptart@bu.edu
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