Harvard University Introduces Course on Ramayana, Mahabharata for Fall Semester

Harvard University has introduced a course for the fall semester with the aim to understand Indian Religions. In this course, the university will introduce the study of Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The name of the course is ‘Indian Religions through their Narrative Literatures’ and it will be taught by the Professor of South Asian Religions at Harvard University, Anne E. Monius.

The aim of the course is to examine the religious traditions and communities of South Asia on the basis of these epics and the stories told within them. Professor Monius said that they will study Indian religions from the poetic visions of Valmiki and Vyasa.

Apart from the original script, the course will also study the television series based on the epics as well as various street and stage versions of these stories that are performed by artists during festivals.

Anne E. Monius also talked about the two epics and said that they are long and complex stories that describe almost every aspect of human experience. She added that the Mahabharata is a tale of disastrous war and loss, whereas, the Ramayana is one of the greatest love stories of India.

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Monius said that many scholars have studied these epics and analyzed their philosophical and scriptural texts. She added that the subcontinent's wealth of narrative literature has gone unnoticed in these epics.

Apart from studying the text of the two epics, shadow puppet plays, dance performances, modern fictional retellings as well as TV renditions of the stories will also be examined. Anne E. Monius says that the two epics easily surpass boundaries of genres in history as well as today.

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She hopes that the students will be able to see the richness of the texts and appreciate the stories that shed light on different practices and traditions that make up Hinduism.