CHHATTISGARH REDISCOVERED : Vedantic Approaches to Folklore

This book is an invitation to scholars to rediscover the past glory of Chhattisgarh. A little known but fascinating part of middle India. The purpose of this book is to present a new method to explore the `hidden` meaning in the oral tradition of Chhattisgarh. The book then presents a semiotic approach to the oral history of Chhattisgarh. It is the history from the bottom which betrays the anguish of a community, and demands the shaping of a just and realistic future for the under-privileged and outcasts in Indian society. It is the use of mythology to present history. A new history has been filtered from the mythical data of Chattisgarh. Mythical thoughts of Guru Ghasidasa mediate the gaps between continuity and change, thereby authenticating the idea of `total history` of Chhattisgarh. The book expresses both the tradition and the actual. It is a combination of intra-cultural (Sastra and Loka) and intercultural relations: therefore intertextalism is connected not only with historic texts but also with folkgenre. It may thus give a broader dimension to the present-day realities and past happenings. It is hoped that the book will be a cause for collective action. It is also hoped that freedom and human dignity will continue to be the central concern of all the works of history.