Prasada(ritual food), 13, 16, 41; in Divali
festival, 97; in goddess possession,
166; in Ramlilasof Ramnagar, 118–19;
for televised Ramayana, 147
Prashad. See Prasada
Pratyaksha deivam(visible God), hus-
bands as, 219, 222
Prayers: flokas, 38; at Sri Venkateswara
temple, 234; televised, 7–8;
Tiruppavai, 7, 8
Premananda, Swami, 180
Print technology: in Indian culture, 141
Priyadas, 203–4, 205, 215n9
Promiscuity, 65
Pujas(worship), 13, 16; of Dhan Teras,
92; at Divali festival, 93–94, 97–98;
fire in, 39–40; gifts in, 38; in goddess
possession, 166; of Krishna, 59; at Kr-
ishna’s ghat, 56; purification before,
37; water in, 40
Punjab: lower castes of, 207; parent-child
relationships in, 195
Puranas: in film, 142
Purification: with fire, 41; in kathatradi-
tion, 151; before pujas, 37; in ramlilas,
151; Ravidas on, 214n3
Putana(demoness), burning of, 107–8
Queen city: in poems of Ravidas, 217n31
Race, Western conception of, 278
Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald, 100,
101, 104
Radha(deity): in battle of canes, 107; and
bhramaramessenger, 54, 57–59, 58; de-
piction of, 51; in Holi festival, 106,
109; Krishna’s love for, 54; Maharaji-
ji’s visions of, 56; narratives of, 14
Radhakrishnan, S., 239
Radhasoami, 21
Rajagopalachari, C., 149
Rajah Harischandra(film, 1912), 142
Rajas, post-Mughal, 141
Raksasas(demons), 91
Ram. SeeRama
Ram, Jagjivan: temple to Ravidas, 210,
216n13
Rama (incarnation of Vishnu): appear-
ance in Babri Mosque, 258, 263–64;
birthplace of, 257, 258, 259, 264; cult
of, 141; devotees of, 135; in Divali fes-
tival, 91, 93, 94; golden-age kingdom
of, 258; in Holi festival, 99, 108;
human acts of, 129; mayaof, 136; nar-
ratives of, 14; residence in Ramnagar,
116–17; in televised Ramayana, 145,
151, 153; transcendent, 129; transfor-
mation of, 132; vanaraallies of, 155n31;
visions of, 128. See also Ramlilas
Ramakrishna Monastery (Banaras), 76;
Mayavati Ashram of, 77
Ramanand (Brahmin), 202, 203; and
Ravidas, 204, 205, 216n14
Ramanuja (Vedantic teacher), 233
Rama Rao, N. T., 153n5
Ramayana: exile in, 19; films of, 142–43;
geography of, 117; performances of,
115; Sanskrit, 137n11, 145; Tamil,
248n10; Uttarakanda,154n16; women
performers of, 15; as yoga, 133. See also
Ramlilas; Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas
Ramayana(television broadcast), 20,
140–53; advertising revenues of,
145–46, 147; Ayodhya in, 264–65; cast
of, 145; costumes of, 152; darfanin,
147, 152; devotional activities around,
147; duration of, 147–48; emotional
content of, 152–53; English-language
critics of, 154n8; Hanuman in, 152;
iconography of, 151; inception of, 145;
making of, 141; outdoor footage of,
152; pace of, 148; popularity of, 141,
146–47; reviews of, 145, 146, 148–49,
153n7; ritualized viewing of, 147; se-
quel to, 154n16; special effects in, 152;
Vishnu in, 145