Araştırma Makalesi

Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal

Cilt: 11 Sayı: 2 1 Aralık 2025
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Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal

Öz

Mahishasurmardini, the devotional broadcast annually on Mahalaya since 1931, is a performative reworking of the myth of Durga–Mahishasura through the confluence of Sanskrit scripture, Bengali poetry, and Hindustani classical music. In colonial Bengal, and composed by Bani Kumar with music by Pankaj Mullick and narration by Birendra Krishna Bhadra, the program mythologises ritual through acoustic dramaturgy. An interdisciplinary analysis, drawing on ethnomusicology, gender theory, and philosophical exegesis, examines how the sonic architecture, specifically the employment of Raga Malkauns and Bhairavi, produces rasa, verifies divine temporality, and mediates sacred presence. Durga is aurally imagined as a cosmic warrior and maternal guardian, turning feminine passivity and masculine violence binaries on their head. Canon formation, diaspora reception, and counter-readings by Dalit and Adivasi scholars make it both a cultural scripture and an ideological apparatus. Issues include its aesthetic development from oral liturgy to broadcast performance, its role in Bengali ethnocultural identity, and its capacity to absorb, yet repress, alternative mythic genealogies. Placed in the performative and literary circuits of postcolonial India, Mahishasurmardini is a site where repetition is ritual authorship and sacred sound is a shared yet contested national memory.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Teşekkür

Thank you so much, I am more than willing to co-operate in the whole process.

Kaynakça

  1. Asianet Newsable (2023) “Mahalaya 2023: Why Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s Mahishasura Mardini is an integral part for Bengalis?” 14 October. Newsable. https://newsable.asianetnews.com/lifestyle/mahalaya-2023-why-birendrakrishna- bhadra-s-mahishasura-mardini-is-an-integral-part-for-bengalis-readthis- rba-s2gvq7 (Accessed: 25 November 2023).
  2. Bhattacharya, J. (2014) “Sharadiya Puja”. Swadesh Lok. Durgotsav: Shekal O Ekal 1. Kolkata: Loke Publication, p. 30.
  3. Bhattacharya, N. (2014) “Devimahatya O Sri Sri Devi Durga”. Swadesh Lok. Durgotsav Shekal-Ekal: 1. Kolkata: Loke Publication, p. 91.
  4. Bose, J. (2021) “Mahalaya: Birendra Krishna Bhadra heralds the arrival of Durga Puja; Here’s why an age-old tradition still inspires hope”. Hindustan Times.
  5. Chakravarty, C. H. (2014) “Durgapuja”. Swadesh Lok. Durgotsav Shekal-Ekal: 1. Kolkata: Loke Publication, p. 25.
  6. Andrews, E. (ed.) (1990) “Markedness Theory: The Union of Asymmetry and Semiosis in Language”. Sound and Meaning: The Roman Jakobson Series in Linguistics and Poetics. Durham: Duke University Press.
  7. Mullick, P. K. (1956). Compositions and Reflections. Geetachhabra Archives.
  8. Nayar, P. K. (2016). An Introduction to Cultural Studies. New Delhi: Viva Books.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil

İngilizce

Konular

Dünya Dilleri, Edebiyatı ve Kültürü (Diğer), Kültürel çalışmalar (Diğer)

Bölüm

Araştırma Makalesi

Erken Görünüm Tarihi

17 Kasım 2025

Yayımlanma Tarihi

1 Aralık 2025

Gönderilme Tarihi

29 Temmuz 2025

Kabul Tarihi

18 Eylül 2025

Yayımlandığı Sayı

Yıl 2025 Cilt: 11 Sayı: 2

Kaynak Göster

APA
Middya, F. A. (2025). Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal. International Journal of Media Culture and Literature, 11(2), 201-215. https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ
AMA
1.Middya FA. Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal. IJMCL. 2025;11(2):201-215. https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ
Chicago
Middya, Fardun Ali. 2025. “Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal”. International Journal of Media Culture and Literature 11 (2): 201-15. https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ.
EndNote
Middya FA (01 Aralık 2025) Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal. International Journal of Media Culture and Literature 11 2 201–215.
IEEE
[1]F. A. Middya, “Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal”, IJMCL, c. 11, sy 2, ss. 201–215, Ara. 2025, [çevrimiçi]. Erişim adresi: https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ
ISNAD
Middya, Fardun Ali. “Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal”. International Journal of Media Culture and Literature 11/2 (01 Aralık 2025): 201-215. https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ.
JAMA
1.Middya FA. Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal. IJMCL. 2025;11:201–215.
MLA
Middya, Fardun Ali. “Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal”. International Journal of Media Culture and Literature, c. 11, sy 2, Aralık 2025, ss. 201-15, https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ.
Vancouver
1.Fardun Ali Middya. Resonant Deity: Performing Durga, Gender, and Ritual in the Sonic Canon of Twentieth-Century Bengal. IJMCL [Internet]. 01 Aralık 2025;11(2):201-15. Erişim adresi: https://izlik.org/JA83GS83SJ

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