India's Epics, Ancient & Modern

Every culture has its great, foundational texts. India has its two great and ancient Hindu epics – the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

They are big, rip-roaring tales of chariots, kidnappings, gods and demons, love and war. They’re deeply engrained in Indian culture, and have been told and retold for thousands of years – most recently in two big new movies out of India.

We hear the ancient Indian epics and very modern tellings.
-Tom Ashbrook
Note: This show was first broadcast July 22, 2010.
Guests:

Arshia Sattar, author who translated the “Kathāsaritsāgara” and the “Ramayana” for Penguin Books. She teaches  at the National Institute of Design and the Film and Television Institute of India.

Wendy Doniger, Sanskrit scholar and expert on Hinduism and mythology. She’s a professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago. Her books include “The Hindus: An Alternative History.”