This book interprets the feminist theories of Rajam Krishnan, a doyen of Tamil literature, who has been a forerunner of many contemporary ideologies. The text provides the much-needed tools for the vast corpus of contemporary research in the global domain of Indian women’s literature. To interpret literature with non-native theoretical models may not be dispensed as an erroneous fallacy, but the fact remains that there prevails an oft-felt, unarticulated need for our own native theories which may imbue a greater elucidation of our culture, ethos, epistemes and practices.

This is the first volume of a projected three-volume work on the little-known South Indian folk cult of the goddess Draupadi and on the classical epic, the Mahabharata, that the cult brings to life in mythic, ritual, and dramatic forms. Draupadi, the chief heroine of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, takes on many unexpected guises in her Tamil cult, but her dimensions as a folk goddess remain rooted in a rich interpretive vision of the great epic. By examining the ways that the cult of Draupadi commingles traditions about the goddess and the epic, Alf Hiltebeitel shows the cult to be singularly representative of the inner tensions and working dynamics of popular devotional Hinduism.

Capitalism and Communism, the progenies of the semitic culture, have given birth to two different streams of women’s Liberation. These streams, which have stormed western society and communist groups, have now actively intruded into the Indian socio-political milieu. The moment these concepts encounter with Indian realities ,they display their inherent contradictions and limitations. But seldom an Indian alternative to such views is discussed. This book is an attempt to understand the Indian approach through a comparative study aimed at addressing the issues related to the future women

Bringing together Hiltebeitel's major essays on the the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyaṇa, and the south Indian cults of Draupadī and Kūttāṇṭavar along with new articles written especially for this collection, this two volume work offers a comprehensive re-reading of the Indian epic tradition by the foremost scholar in Indian epic studies today.

This is the first part of a trilogy on the Mahabharata. Grounded in the original Sanskrit epic, Majmudar recreates the ancient epic for a contemporary audience. It is his finest work yet and is one of the most accessible, magical and unputdownable retellings of the Mahabharata. The Book of Vows will be followed by The Book of Discoveries and The Book of Killings.

Sivasankari (born October 14, 1942) is a renowned Tamil writer and activist. She has carved a niche for herself in the Tamil literary world during the last four decades with her works that reflect an awareness on social issues, a special sensitivity to social problems, and a commitment to set people thinking. She has many novels, novellas, short stories, travelogues, articles and biographies to her credit. Her works have been translated into several Indian languages, English, Japanese and Ukrainian. Eight of her novels have been made into films, having directed by renowned directors like K. Balachander, SP Muthuraman and Mahendran. Her novel 'Kutti' on girl child labour, filmed by the director Janaki Viswanathan, won the President's Award. Sivasankari's novels have also been made as teleserials, and have won the national as well as regional 'Best Mega Serial' awards. As a multi-faceted personality, she has won many prestigious awards including Kasturi Srinivasan Award, Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiyar Award, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award, 'Woman of the year 1999-2000' by the International Women's Association, and so on. 'Knit India Through Literature' is her mega-project involving intense sourcing, research and translations of literature from 18 Indian languages, with a mission to introduce Indians to other Indians through culture and literature.