Who's afraid of The DaVinci Code? Not India ...

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(MARCH 28, 2005): Who's afraid of Dan Brown's novel The DaVinci

Code? Not India at least. Because unlike the West, India has always

venerated the sacred feminine. Delhi Times on why the bestselling

author, now facing the ire of the Vatican, would have had

no 'mythology' problems in apna desh...

 

Even as the Vatican launches a crusade to ban the novel, fans of the

book are outraged. The book deals extensively with Mary Magdalene,

her 'marriage' to Christ and a child with him. It also promotes the

Holy Grail as a quest for the lost sacred feminine and undermines

the patriarchal roots of Christianity.

 

This from the Delhi Times on why India can understand Da Vinci's

code -- and Dan Brown -- so easily:

 

OUR CULTURE

 

Unlike the West, the East, specially India, has always venerated the

feminine. Theatre person Shaoli Mitra, who has won applause for her

stage rendition of Draupadi's version of the Mahabharat (Naathbati

Anathbat), elaborates: "The feminine has always been a part of the

pantheon of Indian goddesses. She is a symbol of fertility. She is

Devi and Shakti. She is also the consort of the gods. But in Western

religions, the mother-goddess cult is a pagan cult and is not a part

of thematic religion. Feminine rituals that the secret society, the

Priory of Sion in The Da Vinci Code , indulge in have parallels in

our culture."

 

According to Sandhya Mulchandani, writer: "If Dan Brown were to

write his work in the Indian context, there would be no problems.

Indians portray our female characters with insight and are

comfortable with the female aspect of our divinity. As a society,

we're a lot more enlightened and liberal."

 

THEIR CULTURE

 

According to sociologist Anand Kumar, "The Church has always been

nervous about female sexuality. Mary Magdalene is a 'fallen woman'

and Virgin Mary could conceive only through Immaculate Conception."

According to Ashok Banker, writer, "Views that Brown has tried to

propagate have been around for a long time, it's just that he's made

them accessible. He's touched a nerve that needed to be touched and

the popularity of the book shows a latent desire in people to hear

this kind of story."

 

SOURCE: THE TIMES OF INDIA, Delhi Times Supplement

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1064428.cms