Dying before the 'Mahabharata' war: martial and transsexual body-building for Aravan
Article Abstract:
The Kuttantavar festival at Kuvakkam in Tamil Nadu, India, is an eighteen-day festival of eunuchs or Alis, symbolizing their marriage to Kuttantavar, a Tamil deity, more widely known as Aravan. Although there are conflicting mythological versions of Kuttantavar, he is usually considered as the son of Arjuna, the epic Mahabharata's main protagonist. Krishna takes on the female form of Mohini and marries Kuttantavar. Themes of death, a severed head, martialism, transvestitism and gender mixing are significant aspects of the cult.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1995
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Gandhi's Body, Gandhi's Truth: nonviolence and the biomoral imperative of public health
Article Abstract:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's somatic concerns were intricately linked to his pursuit of truth through nonviolent means. In Gandhi's view, nonviolence entailed a moral reformation which was embodied in terms of public health. In the context of late imperialism, this health is political, spiritual and moral in content. Gandhi experimented on himself his ideas on dietetics, celibacy, hygiene, and nature cure. His subjective self-discipline dictated his ideas and actions which were based on the quest for truth.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1996
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Body, discourse, and the cultural politics of contemporary Chinese Qigong
Article Abstract:
Chinese qigong is a form of Asian bodily cultivation and certain studies point to an intense political struggle surrounding qigong practice. Practitioners want the right to practice a form of qigong they believe in, but the government sees the embodied space of qigong to be subject to its regulation, because of its public nature. The opposing discourses of qigong are fantasy constructions of qi, as a response to the multiple crises of Chinese modernity.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1999
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