This book provides a study of the oral narrative of Shri Devnārāyan along with the first English translation of this popular Rajasthani folk narrative. The narrative extolling the deeds of Lord Devnārāyan is performed by itinerant singers during all night vigils in front of a 9-meter long, elaborately painted cloth scroll that depicts scenes and characters from the story. The book uses the narrative to explore and ask a range of questions relevant to the study of Indian folk culture and Hinduism as a whole: How is orality conceptualized and practiced? What is the relationship between spoken an ... More

This book provides a study of the oral narrative of Shri Devnārāyan along with the first English translation of this popular Rajasthani folk narrative. The narrative extolling the deeds of Lord Devnārāyan is performed by itinerant singers during all night vigils in front of a 9-meter long, elaborately painted cloth scroll that depicts scenes and characters from the story. The book uses the narrative to explore and ask a range of questions relevant to the study of Indian folk culture and Hinduism as a whole: How is orality conceptualized and practiced? What is the relationship between spoken and visual signs? How do Devnārāyan’s devotees create multiple discourses concerning religion, community, and history within and though the medium of the narrative? The analysis suggests that the narrative provides a framework for establishing linkages between different communities, past and present, spoken word, and visual image, as well as contending religious ideologies. The book's interpretation is interspersed with excerpts from interviews with devotees and singers, other tales and texts, and observations from field research that together invoke the worlds created by the narrative.