Did you know that Kanyakumari gets it name after Parashakti, the mother goddess, who assumed the form of a virgin girl to restore peace on Earth and free the people from Banasura's wrath? Or that according to one story, the Earth and sky were created from the two portions of an egg? Indeed, India is a rich treasure trove of such interesting tales.
In an attempt to archive these stories and uncover their origin, Dr Vidya Kamat has started the Centre for Study of Mythology and Culture, Goa. Comprising of Prof. Arvind Kudchadker, Prof Emeritus, IIT Mumbai, Adv. Rajiv Shinkre, Rajendra Talak, Dr. Venkatesh Kamat, Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai, and Prajal Sakhardande, the centre aims to discuss, research and critique the role that myths play in shaping contemporary society and culture.
“Myths are a belief system that came down from many centuries, born out of humans curiosity to understand the earth and their own existence. They are connected with all aspects of human activity be it in dance, psychology, literature. But until now there has not been any single place where it was taught as a proper subject. Thus my mentor Dr S A Dangle, who taught Comparitive Mythology at the University of Mumbai had the idea of starting a dedicated centre,” says Dr Kamat, who decided to see this idea through after his passing away. “Although I lived in Mumbai for many years, I decided to set up the centre here as I have my roots in Goa.” For the time being, the centre will be based at her residence in Dona Paula.
One of the important aspects of this centre will be putting across academic information on the net. “India is rich storehouse of stories like the Panchatantra, the Jatakas and the Ramayana. These are bytes of wisdom from the ancestors. But with the vanishing of traditional story tellers, the stories will vanish. Thus we want to archive them,” she says. In fact, Kamat along with some mythology enthusiasts, started the Talking Myths website about a year ago, where one can find a bunch of many intriguing narratives. “ Secondly, we want to have a more academic study of myths -to find out the source of these beliefs. We hope to conduct many workshops and seminars on this,” she says. In fact, to introduce mythology to youngsters, the members have already conducted lectures at various colleges and museums in Goa and Mumbai. Dr Kamat will also present her research 'Making God' on roadside shrines in Mumbai at 6 Assagao on October 25.
The centre also aims to research on how myths can shape perceptions and be applied in different areas. “We have business companies coming to us to help them understand the myths of a particular country that they are dealing with. For instance, the Japanese hold out invitations with both hands while Indians do not use their left hand as much,” explains Kamat. “Also, we are trying to see how we can use the hero myths to build leadership qualities. These heroes overcame some problem and emerged victorious. We want to explore whether we can use the same strategies that these heroes used to train them to be leaders.”
They also hope to create teaching tools such as story books, animated shorts and documentary videos, develop a research residency and promote collaborative research with international institutions and academic community. Apart from this they hope to work on projects related to Goa too. However, Kamat is aware that with the political situation being as it is, there is a chance that the going could get tough. “ Rather than just accepting these beliefs, we want to provide academic information about them and debate and critique them. But we may be walking into the fire,” she admits, adding “There is no true or false with myths. Subscribing to these is an individual choice.”
