History of Indian Civilization - Indian Civilization [Lec 08]

History of Indian Civilization; UCLA, Lecture of 27 January 2012. Some final remarks on the Mauryan dynasty; 200 BCE -- political history of India; political turmoil; events in South India, and the Sangam period; and Tamil country. Another portion of the lecture is on the nature of Hindu myths; and opening remarks on the Ramkatha and the Ramayana. The nature of Puranic literature--sectarian literature; Vishnu Purana; the myth of Narasimha and the story of Prahlad. The idea of liminality. What is the idea of an incarnation (avatar)? The story of Vamana (the dwarf). The idea of many Ramayanas -- A K Ramanujan and a Kannada folktale. Some differences between the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Difficulties in viewing Ramayana as a work of history; tendency in recent years to historicize the deity Rama and his story. Some distinctions between history and myth; the problem in Ayodhya, and the dispute over the Ramjanmasthan/Babri Masjid. Destruction of the Babri Masjid See the full playlist for “History of Indian Civilization”: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3KRgc0HE8B4neta_B8LPM0G9UWy-Cqe Subscribe for more lectures on Indian Civilization, World History, Bollywood, Gandhi, and much else... Blog: https://vinaylal.wordpress.com/ MANAS (a pedagogical website on Indian history, culture, religions, politics, and so on): http://southasia.ucla.edu/ UCLA Faculty Page: https://history.ucla.edu/faculty/vinay-lal Books: https://vinaylal.wordpress.com/books-by-vinay-lal/