Kaanu

Title

Narratives of a place named Ellora: Myths, culture and politics

Creator

Sharma, Mahesh

Date

2021

Subject

history

religion

culture

social change

Identifier

doi:10.1177/0019464620982259

issn:0019-4646

Source

Original source

Is Part Of

The Indian Economic & Social History Review

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Abstract

Ellora is the place where caves associated with different sects and religions were carved over a span of at least 800 years. While the caves, narrowly understood, have been the subject of many studies, the ‘place’, as a site of political and social interaction, has been largely neglected. Ellora was larger than just the caves; it was a place with a long history where traders, monks, artisans and armies brought in different ideas, reconsidered the old and innovated upon cultural traditions that reflected on their own identities and their relationship with Ellora. These people and their actions stamped the place with meaning and identity, which accrued over time—sometimes exclusive, at other times hybrid, but inevitably transformative. Ellora was an important site that conjured multivalent sensibilities, more complex than many other places. This article uses toponym as an analytic focus to bring into play different subjects—the historical agents, religious organisations, monuments and textual materials—that provided structure and meaning to the Ellora Caves at different historical junctures. It argues how the place and people in power have different kinds of relationships with the past, especially when it is not their past but one that they need to master. The impact of material change and transition in the production of historical materials is particularly striking when studied in the long duration with focus on a relatively small but politically significant site.

Bibliographic Citation

Sharma, Mahesh. (2021). 'Narratives of a place named Ellora: Myths, culture and politics'. The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 58(1), pp. 73-111.

Extent

Vol. 58, Issue 1, pp. 73-111

Has Format

Download PDF

Type

journal-article

Kaanu ID

kb000146