Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Storybook Favorites

 

Gilt copper alloy figure. Sold for $377,000 via Bonhams (March 2015).

(Image Source: invaluable.com)


I don't actually know much about Indian mythology or the Epics of India, which is why I was excited to dig into the stories from past students.  There were so many I wanted to choose from that I thought were very interesting, but I finally narrowed it down to the three listed below.

 

Flood Stories 

This one caught my interest based on the title. I assumed the topic centered around the great flood myths that are prevalent in many different cultures, and I was right. This storybook provides a great overview of the flood myth, and presents the three Indian myths that feature a flood story: Matsya the Fish, Ganga, Parashurama. The author has flowing prose which makes it easy to read the stories. The layout of the storybook is appealing, and easy to navigate. It gives a simple overview of the myths which I had never before heard. 

 

Nataraja: The Lord of the Cosmic Dance

The title of this storybook is what intrigued me the most. It reminded me of that T.Rex song Cosmic Dancer (sooooo good). The introduction gives an overview of Shiva, and his cosmic connection. The author clarifies that there isn't an exact origin story for Shiva which is incredibly interesting. Overall I think this storybook is a great introduction into Shiva, and his many aliases. The site is easy to navigate, and the stories are very well written.

But I mostly wanted to share this to express my love for T. Rex


Horror in India

 I am a lover of all things horror, so when I saw this title I was immediately interested. The story sort of jumps into the action after the protagonist is told his entire family was found dead. I thought the entire read was interesting, and it held my attention. The layout of the site is easy to navigate, and I love the pictures the author chose - just reading their descriptions was interesting. I thought it was a fascinating intro to 'demons' in Indian myth. 10/10 would be scared again.


Honorary Mention:

Looney Tunes Goes to India



(image source: giphy.com)

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