CONTENTS: Preface Acknowledgements Publisher’s Acknowledgments Introduction Part I 1. The Epic Across Literary Cultures / Harish Trivedi 2. A Comparatist’s Reading of Epic as Genre / Ipshita Chanda 3. The First English Translation of Mahabharata: Authorship/Authority, Translation/Utility Matters / Nandini Bhattacharya Part II 4. The Ramayana: Issues and Problems / Mohan Ramanan 5. Ezhuthaccan’s Adhyatma Ramayana and the Ramayana Tradition / K. Satchidanandan 6. Reading Ramayana in Two Contexts: From Old Tibet to Maad Dialect of Rajasthan / M.N. Rajesh and Bhim Singh 7. Mappila Ramayanam: Retelling the Epic among Malabari Muslims / Sharone K. Meeran Part III 8. Can Rhetoric Decide Authorship? Sri Aurobindo and the Problem of the Mahabharata / Sachidananda Mohanty 9. Krsna and the Mystic Number 8 / Indrajit Bandyopadhyay 10. Aksatayoni: Regaining Virginity in the Mahabharata / Gargi Bhattacharya 11. Queering Kasirama: Myths of Gender Reversal and Transvestism in the Medieval Bengali Mahabharata / Soham Pain Part IV 12. The Epic Imagination and its (Dis)continuities: The Mewati Mahabharata / Shail Mayaram 13. Delineating Adivasi Ethos in the Bhili Bharath / Kirti Nakhare 14. Epic Narratives in Kathakali / B. Hariharan 15. Ramakatha Adaptations in North-East India / Monbinder Kaur Part V 16. Intersections of the Feminine in Silappadikaram / Bharathi Harishankar 17. Positioning Manimekalai as an a-Vaidiki Epic: Contemporary Reception Context in Tamil / C.T. Indra 18. Bibi Nanchari, the Muslim Goddess-Consort / Sreedevi Yadavalli 19. Waris Shah’s Heer: An Epic or a Kissa? / Rana Nayar 20. Transformation of Creation Myth into Religion: Ladakhi Tribal Epic Ling Kesar and Tibetan Epic Gesar / Stanzin Shakya 21. Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s Loona: Deconstructing the Feminine / Vivek Sachdeva About the Contributors