Masilamani-Meyer, Eveline
Kâttavarâyan Katai

The Story of Kâttavarâyan. An Annotated Translation.

Tamil text and english translation of a story of a folkdeity of Tamilnadu. The text shows the kind of language typical of this genre of folk stories and sheds light on folk religion aspects. The story relates how Kattavarayan, though born to low-caste parents, attempts to marry the high-caste Brahman girl Ariyamalai. Like many other folk gods of India, Kattavarayan too is connected to the greater Hindu tradition by being made a son of Siva. Neither Siva's, nor his mother Kamaksi's protests prevent Kattavarayan from pursuing the forbidden alliance. During his adventurous journeys and while dealing with the other women proposed by his mother as brides, Kattavarayan takes various disguises and uses these to make fun of Bahmans, kings and pan-Hindu gods like Visnu. XI,337 Seiten mit 13 Tafeln, broschiert (Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen; Band 10/Harrassowitz Verlag 2004)