RESEARCH PROJECTS AT A GLANCE
SI. No.
|
Dated
|
Title of the Project
|
Sponsored by
|
Prof. P. Subbachary
|
|||
1.
|
Internal Project works for Archival Collections:
a) The Cult of Mahabharata
b) Hero worship at Palanadu Virula temple
c) Folk Handy crafts of Andhra Pradesh
|
Dravidian University
|
|
2005
|
The Jambapurana
|
National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai
|
|
20010-12
|
UGC-MRP – Dynamics of Telugu Folktales
|
University Grants Commission, New Delhi
|
|
2012-14
|
The Epic of Mallanna
|
IGNCA New Delhi
|
|
Prof. B. Krishna Reddy
|
|||
The Case of Yanadi Tribal
|
Dravidian University
|
||
19-2-2007
|
We Sing for our Patrons: The Case of Thoti of Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh
|
Tribal Cultural Research & Training Institute, Dept. of Tribal Welfare, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad.
|
|
19-2-2007
|
The Naikpod of A.P. An Ethnographic Account
|
||
18-6-2007
|
Rapid Assessment of the existing situation of the Sugali in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh
|
||
12-11-2007
|
Folk lore & Folk life of the Kulia
|
||
12-11-2007
|
Tradition & Continuity Among the Valmiki of Agency Areas of A.P
|
||
21-7-2008
|
An interface between Ecology and Economy of the Andh
|
||
21-7-2008
|
Towards Empowering of the Challa Yanadis of Nellore & Chittoor Districts, Andhra
Pradesh |
||
07-01-2010
|
UGC-MRP - The Cult of Sai Baba of Shirdi and its Diffusion in Dravidian Culture
|
University Grants Commission, New Delhi
|
|
Dr. M.N. Venkatesha
|
|||
2004
|
Impact of Inclusive Education on Tribal Kids
|
Government of Karnataka, SSA
|
|
2007
|
Epic of Mailara Linga- Documentation
|
National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai
|
|
2007
|
Folk Imagery
|
Dravidian University
|
|
2009
|
Folk Epics and Epic Narrators of Karnataka, Socio Economic Issues
|
UGC
|
|
Dr. K. Shyamala
|
|||
2008
|
Vanishing Nomadism: The Saga of the Dommara
|
Dravidian University
|
|
2011
|
Social Sub-Groups and The Cultural Habitus: A Folkloristic and Historical Study of Social Cultural Formations of Castes and Tribes in Tri-Lingual Dravidian Region of Kuppam.
|
UGC Major Research Project.
|
|
Projects of Prof. P. Subbachary
Internal Project works for Archival Collections:
The Cult of Mahabharata:
The worship of Draupadi or the cult of Mahabharata is very widespread in the Chittoor district. It is the influence of the Cult of Draupadi which is very prevalent in Tamilanadu. As the Chittoor district is geographically connected and part of the Chittoor district was included in the North Arcot district of Tamilanadu before the Independence. This is the reason for the presence of worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Chittoor district. This is not there in other districts of Andhra Pradesh. The Department has a plan to conduct a comprehensive research on the cult of Draupadi, and a project is initiated from the Department. The University initially thought to fund this project. As such Prof. P. Subbachary started research on the theme and conducted field research at the Draupadi temple at Puttur in 2006 and at the Draupadi (Pandavulu) temple of Yamanuru. I documented two ritual cycles at Yamanuru one at Pttur. photos 198 in number and videos are collected from these two places. One research paper titled “ The Mahabharata a Voyage into Celestial Space and Time: A Study of Cult Tradition in South India” was prepared based on this research work and it is selected for an anthology on Mahabharata in oral tradition. The project has not been continued because of the paucity of funds.
Hero worship at Palanadu Virula temple:
The Palanadu name itself is a symbol of mythical heroism. The names of Brahmanaidu, Balachandrudu, Nagamma are still alive in the Telugus. A five-day ritual of hero worship is still continuing without interruption from centuries together. The Department made a plan to hold a project to document the entire ritual processes and the Epic narration by Palnati Viravidyavantulu or the Pitchikunti artists. Prof. P. Subbachary conducted a pilot fieldwork and photo documentation around 200 valuable ethnographic photos are documented on this Palanudu rituals. Because of paucity of funds this project has not been materialized. However, one year of fieldwork and its report has become archival sources in the Department.
Folk Handicrafts of Andhra Pradesh
This work is done as a project intended to document the folk handy crafts of A.P through photos and videos. This is a mini project and part of a bigger project “The Encyclopedia South Indian Folklore”. Fieldwork has been conducted Krishna, East and West Godavaris, Vishakhapatnam, Khammam and Nalgonda districts. Photo and video documentation was conducted on 14 folk handy crafts which include; Kondapally bommalu, Etikoppaka Bommalu, Madhavapatnam Tolubommalu, Bandaru Kalamkari, Srikalahasti Kalamkari, Srikalahasti chekka Bommalu, Khammam wooden carving, Pochampalli hand looms, Karimnagar Bidiri, Pembarthi brass carvings, Nirmala Bommalu, Cheryala Paintings, and Cheryalu masks. One short article is written on each handy craft and published in the Encyclopedia as an outcome of this project some hundreds of photos and videos are collected on all of the handicrafts.
JAMBAPURANAM PROJECT
This is a collaborative project between the Department of Folklore, Dravidian University and National Folklore Support Centre at Chennai. Prof. Subbachary collaborated in the Project with the Scholars of NFSC. We have conducted filed research and documentation at Nalgonda and Warangal districts for this purpose. The Jambapuranam performances are collected from two traditions. One is of Chindu katha or the Gosangi Vesham and the other is Nulaka Chandalaiah’s Jambapuranam recitation. Both are documented on video and photo graphs. It is funded by NFSC with Rs. 70,000/- . Both of the Jambapuranams are textualised, transcribed on to paper. The two versions of the Jambapuranam are published into one book “Adi Jambava Mahapuranam” with a 40 page editorial by P. Subbachary. The book is published by and available with the Dravidian University.
THE DYNAMICS OF TELUGU FOLKTALES:
A Study of Inclusive Social Discourse of Dalits, Women and Other Marginalized Social Groups of Andhra Pradesh
This is the UGC major Research Project executed during 2010-12. The Telugu folklore research has been concentrating on the folk songs and song genres and the prose literature in the oral tradition i.e., various kinds of folktales have been ignored. Only five percent of research was carried on folktales. Keeping this phenomenon in the mind the topic has been selected for the MRP. Fieldwork is conducted in Chittoor, Ananthapur, Guntur, Krishna, Vijayanagaram, Khamam districts. I noticed the drastic change in field situation comparing to the situation two decades ago. I find very tough time to identify people who can narrate folktales. we could collect only 245 folktales even after one year of fieldwork. In addition to folktales we (I and one project assistant) have collected personal experience narratives of persons belong to various castes. The personal experience narratives are considered as folk genres more over as prose genres. I made it a point to collect folktales from various sections of people like women, dalits, and other marginalized social groups to analyze the social discourse and their identity of the concerned. Two volumes are prepared as part of this project. One is of collection of folktales of 700 pages and a dissertation/report on the collected tales of 200 pages. These two books are ready to publish. We have documented the personal experiences and folktale narrations on photos and videos. We have also documented the ethnography of folktale tellers. Several hundreds of photos and several hours of videos are collected in this project.
THE EPIC OF MALLANNA
A Study of the Mallanna Epic, Cult-practices and the Social Identity of Gollas
This is a collaborative project between the Department of Folklore and Tribal Studies of Dravidian University and the Janapada Sampada of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Prof. Subbachary along with two project assistants executed during 2012 to 2014. The research in this project has concentrated on the cult of Mallanna in Telangana districts and the issue of the social identity of the pastoral castes of Andhra Pradesh Gollas and Kurumagollas. It studied the dependent performer caste the Oggu and the dependent social system that exist between Kurmagollas and their dependent performers Oggus. It also concentrated on the Oggu katha performance of the Epic of Mallanna. Fieldwork is conducted to collect the ethnography of Kurumas and the ritual process at five important cult centres in Telangana districts namely; Komurelly, Ainavolu, Odela, Esgon and Chanupbanda. The transhumant life of Kuruma shepherd is also documented. The epic of Mallanna is documented in a camp for 12 days. 60 hours of Epic is documented on HD video. The epic is textualised and composed. It came to 1509 pages in A4 size. It is the longest epic collected from oral source and first time textualised long epic. The epic is prepared into one volume and the research and analyses came to a 210 pages of dissertation. The ritual processes and the issues of social identity of pastoralists are thoroughly analysed in this research. The epic is analysed in terms of its narration, kinesics, dialect, songs and their rhythms and the stylised proses patterns. The huge documentation is done in this project; 3500 photos, 115 hours of HD video around 60 hours of audio performances of tales are collected in this project. The goldmine like material has been preserved in the Department and one set has been sent to IGNCA. This is such a collection that at least 10 serious researchers can work for 10 years on various aspects with this material. It turned to be a very prestigious project and valuable research. The books from this project are well edited and ready for publication.
Two Documentary Films 1. The Cult of Mallanna, 2. Oggukatha Performance are made with duration of 30 minutes and submitted to IGNCA. Research support, Script writing and Direction for these films are provided by Prof. P. Subbachary. The films are rated as best documentary films by the Organization
Two Documentary Films 1. The Cult of Mallanna, 2. Oggukatha Performance are made with duration of 30 minutes and submitted to IGNCA. Research support, Script writing and Direction for these films are provided by Prof. P. Subbachary. The films are rated as best documentary films by the Organization
Projects of Dr. M.N Venkatesha
1. Impact of Inclusive Education on Tribal Kids: Government of Karnataka, SSA
2. Epic of Mailaralinga: Documentation and translation of the epic into English, fuded by NFSC, Chennai
3. Patron Client relationship of Helava and similar communities of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh: Dr. Peter J. Claus and Dr. M N Venkatesha: Collaborative project
4. Folk Imagery: Textualisation of Folk Narratives, Dravidian University, Kuppam
5. Socio Economic issues of Epic Narrators of Karnataka: This is a Minor Research Project sanctioned by UGC and dealt with the Socio-Economic conditions of the epic narrators. The importance of epic narrators in the cultural context and the routine life of such epic singers is studied. The folk epics are considered as sacred and are the storehouses of customs and laws of the communities concerned. The Epic narrators are highly regarded as knowledgeable persons with in the community.
Ongoing Project:
African Folklore Encyclopedia (A Project of Karnataka Janapada University)
Ongoing Project:
African Folklore Encyclopedia (A Project of Karnataka Janapada University)
Projects of Dr. K. Shyamala
1. Social Sub Groups and the Cultural Habitus - A Folkloristic and Historical study of Social and Cultural Formations of castes and tribes in Dravidian region of Kuppam: This is a Major Research Project of UGC, executed during 2012-14. Keeping in view the broad objectives of Dravidian University, this project is designed as an extensive study of social and cultural formations of castes and tribes in south Indian Villages of Kolar, Chittoor, Krishnagiri districts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu respectively, with historical and folkloristic perspectives. Taking cue from D.D. Kosambi’s delineation of a schema of the stages of social development in Indian history, the co-existing unevenly evolved tribal forms, and the importance of ethnography and fieldwork, the social formations of castes and tribes were studied, by conducting field research in more than 150 villages by focusing on production relations. In all these economies, productive and distributive relations are based on kinship. The dominant economy of social formation was agro-pastoralism, which combined cattle – keeping with cultivation of small holdings as borne out by the preponderance of references to cattle raids in the form of veeragals (Hero stones) and associated practices, rites and rituals and the centrality of institutions such as gift giving and redistribution besides the hegemony of heroic culture. The village studies that was done in this region shows that everything in the socio-cultural regime revolved round the economy and everything was disposed of so as to establish its hegemony over other economies. Organized under spontaneously evolved self-sustaining kinsfolk units (‘palli’ or ‘ur’) of production, the social groups belonging to various castes maintained exchange relations and shared cultural practices, which eventually led to the making of this triangular region as a land of Dravidian cultural homogeneity. The reconstruction of the cultural history of the region made it inevitable to study the migrations in the area. The initial development of the culture and economy entails widely recognized socio-economic changes. The settlement pattern in this region is kinship based. Reciprocity was the mode of exchange and it is known as ‘Badulu’. It is conspicuous by its presence in agricultural operations and in marital relations. The physiographic features of Kuppam substantiate the livelihood strategies of the marginalised social subgroups who inhabit the region. The hilly tracts, the pastures and the agrarian tracts represent the modes of production such as hunting and food gathering, plundering and cattle rearing, commodity production and stone cutting, fishing, agriculture etc. Gift giving was the institution through which the resources were redistributed. Each of these groups has cultural links with their kinsmen/ counterparts in the bordering districts in the states of Tamilnadu and Karnataka. By wiping away the political boundaries, one can find an exclusive cultural zone that encompasses Kolar District of Karnataka, Kuppam of Andhra Pradesh and Hosur region of Krishnagiri District of Tamilnadu . This region is a treasure trove of rich folk traditions with special features such as Ancestral and Mother goddess worship, fertility cult, etc. that form a part of Dravidian culture. The study of village ecology unravels the economic relations of the feudal phase. The sub groups of this region are known for their rich repertoire of folklore that remained unexplored. The cultural life of the present region came into being through a long historical process of the synthesis of various cultural forms and of the conflicts of the opposing social forces. The present work is a multi disciplinary research comprising folkloristic and historical methods of analysis.
2. Vanishing Nomadism-The saga of the Dommara: This work is an outcome of the project sanctioned by Dravidian University. It is a study of the Nomadic Acrobatic folk performers known as Dommara who are marginalised by both the society and the academia. This community was labelled as criminal tribe under the criminal Tribes Act of 1871. As the urban sprawl of cities increased and village commons shrunk, they found themselves being displaced. The Dommaras are popularly known as Dom in North India and are considered as untouchables. This work verifies many dimensions of the Dommara life such as historical, social, economical and religious. It also highlights the Basavi system (dedication of girls to god-Forced Prostitution), that transformed into the flesh trade, thus pushing a colorful community into mere oblivion. The project also studied the fate of Dommara profession of acrobatics in the wake of Globalisation and Dommara women’s urge to cleanse the filth in their cultural spaces by emancipating themselves from the inhuman profession of flesh trade.
For Mallanna Charitra Visit Mallanna Charitra
ReplyDelete