Aesthetics theology and politics shifting contexts of Barahmasas the songs of seasons

Abstract

The thesis entitled Aesthetics, Theology and Politics: Shifting Contexts of Barahmasa(s), The Song(s) of Seasons is a detailed study of the origin and evolution of barahmasa genre. Starting from the ancient times when this genre existed in Sanskrit literature and poetics in the form of shadritu-varnana or description of six seasons, i.e. Vasanta (Spring), Grishma (Summer), Varsha (Rains), Sharada (Autumn), Hemanta (Early Winter), Shishira (Late Winter), it traces its later development into a folk/literary form called barahmasa or the song of twelve months (of Hindu lunar calendar Chaitra, Vaisakh, Jyeshtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwin, Kartikka, Agrahayana or Margasirsa, Pausha, Magha and Phalgun). Though essentially a viraha-geet (song of separation), barahmasa was also appropriated by sufi, bhakti and Jain poets during medieval period, which added religious and philosophical dimensions to this poetic form. After its proliferation in apabhramsha, it also appeared in modern Indian languages Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali and a few others. Due of its universal appeal, cultural rootedness and delightful structure, barahmasa exceeded its primary mandate of articulating the emotion of love-in-separation (viraha). Modern Indian poets writing in English have availed the poetic structure of barahmasa to articulate modern themes and concerns. The thesis is a systematic study of different barahmasas as they appear in three temporal-cum-cultural phases, i.e. ancient, medieval and modern. It analyses the recurrence of this poetic form in the mentioned phases, and traces the contours of barahmasa tradition during such reinventions. newline