‘Teru’: Sahitya Akademi-winning Kannada novel questions uncritical acceptance of religious ritualism

BR Ambedkar tersely stated that all civilised or uncivilised religions try to portray two essential features: historicity and provision of psychological comfort (to the banal–episodic hysteria). These are then portrayed as a philosophy of religion, though the fundamental essence of what constitutes philosophy differs from the above-foregrounded portrayal. One crucial element that embodies any religion is the category of myth.

In the words of Wendy Doniger, a myth is a story that many people believe, although they know it is untrue. The essence of a myth is veiled, and therefore, people ignore it or cannot comprehend it. Thus, myths with the additives of rituals help attain a balance between the individual and society. In a Machiavellian sense, they are enablers for an individual/group to establish their hegemony using this power of philosophy to maintain social order using the masculine idea of strength.

Symbolism, mysticism, mythicism, spirituality, ritualism, religiosity, and philosophy are the way of life for the people of India. Their agency of experiencing and following their religious philosophy is attached to practising rituals and a staunch belief in these myths without questioning the institutions that propagate them, symbols, or the proclaimed/traditional/imposed authorities. This complexity and the dialectics of various tenets of layered...

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