• ISBN13: 9789385932281
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Religion and Philosophy
• Publisher: Zubaan
• Publisher Imprint: Zubaan
• Publication Date: September 16, 2018
• Pages: 280
• Original Price: 695.0 INR
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 386 grams

About the Book The Tamil text N&#299;lakeci , dated around the 5th century CE (debated), is an unusual literary creation. It retrieves a violent, vengeful p&#275;y (female possessing spirit) of Palayanur, transforming her into a Jaina philosopher. It was a profoundly subversive idea of its time, using the female persona and voice (for a hitherto disembodied being) to debate with preceptors of different schools of thought/religions of the time, all male, barring the Buddhist nun, Ku&#7751;&#7789;alakeci. N&#299;lakeci 's debates focus on questions of non-violence, existence of the soul, authorship and caste, among others. <p/> However, in order to truly appreciate this alter-texting, one has to unravel layers of other texts and traditions: the lesser known villupp&#257;ttu (bow-song) and n&#257;takam (theatrical) versions of the p&#275;y N&#299;li stories, as well as the story of Ku&#7751;&#7789;alakeci's own transformative journey. Umamaheshwari situates these in a comparative context, while maintaining the centrality of the debates within N&#299;lakeci, using translation of selected excerpts.