Abstract
Drawing from different secular traditions of India, such as the Ayurvedic health traditions and Sangam literature, geographical description and land ethic practices from South India, this chapter describes place-centric views of landscape which look at nature as a habitat for human beings. While one tradition relies on typology of the human body and its relationship to geography and climate , another poetic tradition from South India utilises topocentric categories called tiṇai. Earlier work by scholars in these areas is summarised with appropriate annotation and analysis that links these ideas to the topocentric view of nature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Sivathamby (1974), in his paper on the social origins of tiṇai concept, also points out the historical, cultural, and social significance of these categories. He attempts to examine uneven patterns of development and social organisation and analyses them.
- 2.
A form of Prakrit. The version referred to for this book is with commentary in Sanskrit by Prabhananda Suri, critically edited and translated by Frank Van Den Bossche.
- 3.
One yojana is roughly 15 km (from Pániker 2010).
References
Anderson, J. (2010). Understanding cultural geography: Places and traces. Oxon: Routledge.
Baindur, M. (2010c). Nature as being: Poetry and place in the Tiṇai complex. Paper presented at the national conference on ‘The Name and Nature of Ecocriticism,’ organised by Department of English, School of Social Sciences and Humanities in collaboration with Organisation for Studies in Literature and Environment-India (www.osle-india.org) on 6 and 7 December.
Brennan, A. (2002). Asian traditions of knowledge: The disputed questions of science, nature and ecology. Studies on the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 33, 567–581.
Bruun, O., & Kalland, A. (Eds.). 1995. Images of nature: An introduction. In Asian perceptions of nature: A critical approach (pp. 1–24). Richmond: Nordic Institute of Asia Studies, Curzon Press.
Callicott, J. B. (1987). Conceptual resources for environmental ethics in Asian traditions of thought: A propaedeutic. Philosophy East and West, 37(2), 115–130.
Dubyanski, A. M. (2010). ‘Tolkappiam.’World classical tamil conference souvenir. Kovai, pp. 72–79.
Gurukkal, R. (2010). Semiotics of ancient Tamil poetics: A methodological consideration. In Social formations of early South India (pp. 77–91). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Haribhadrasūri. Bossche, F.V.D (Trans.). (2007). Elements of Jaina geography: The Jambūdvīpasaṃgrahaṇī of Haribhadra Sūri: critically edited and translated with the commentary of Prabhānanda Sūri. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Murugan, V. (2008). Cankam literature in Tamil. ‘Pudiya panuval: An international journal of Tamil studies, North America.1.1. (online). http://www.indianfolklore.org/journals/index.php/Panu/issue/view/52/showToc. Accessed on July 22 2010.
Panikkar, R. (2001). The Vedic experience: Mantramanjari (1st ed.). 1983 reprint. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Pániker, A. (2010). Jainism: History, society, philosophy, and practice. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Selby, M. A. (2008). Dialogues of space, desire, and gender in Tamil Cankam Poetry. In M. A Selby & I. V. Peterson (Eds.), Tamil geographies: Cultural constructions of space and place in South India (pp. 17–42). State University of New York Press: Albany.
Selvomony, N. (2008). tiNai in primal and stratified societies. Indian Journal of Ecocriticism, 1, 9–21.
Sivathamby, K. (1974). Early South Indian society and economy: The Tinai concept. Social Scientist, 3(5), 20–37.
Takahashi, T. (1995). Tamil love poetry and poetics. Leiden: Brill.
Thapar, R. (2012). Perceiving the forest: Early India. In M. Rangarajan & K. Sivaramakrishnan (Eds.), India’s environmental history—A reader: (Vol. 1: From ancient times to the colonial period (pp.105–126). New Delhi: Orient Black swan.
Tuan, Y. F. (1974). Topophilia: a study of environmental perceptions, attitudes and values. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Wujastyk, D. (1999). ‘Foreword.’ In Zimmerman, F (Ed.), The jungle and the aroma of meats: An ecological theme in Hindu medicine. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Zimmerman, F. (1999). The jungle and the aroma of meats: An ecological theme in Hindu medicine. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Zvelebil, K. (1992). Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature. Leiden: E.J Brill.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer India
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baindur, M. (2015). Topocentric Views of Nature . In: Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol 12. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2358-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2358-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2357-3
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2358-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)