Mythical Forgetting: A Detriment To Sexual Syncretism Of India

Abstract

Mythological undercurrent and mythological consciousness, undoubtedly, cast a great and an undeniable influence on the cultural fabric of any civilisation or country. India, a land known for its cultural multiplicity and heterogeneity, has also received a great deal of impact from its mythological repertoire. India's rich mythological heritage has played a vital role in sustaining its cultural ethos throughout centuries. The problematic identity categories in India, such as caste, creed, and gender, have found support and validation in the narratives of Indian mythology. Similarly, mythological, literary and historical narratives have also accommodated same sex love and desire. However, paradoxically, despite its rich mythological repertoire which acknowledges homoerotic sensibilities, India has witnessed an unwavering lack of acceptance towards diverse sexual identities. The societal insistence on adhering strictly to heteronormative pattern of sexuality has traumatized the lives of sexual minorities which can be understood as an indifference to the mythical past which was sexually diverse. In this background, this article purports to delineate the process of a society forgetting its own heterogeneous mythological past which is same sex friendly, and thereby inculcating a hostile stance towards peripheral sexualities. In the meanwhile, the argument of the paper is also to demonstrate that Indian culture is superficially homophobic and deeply homophilic at its core. The research paper utilizes Queer Critical approaches to examine how a culture that once accommodated same-sex culture, owing to its interactions with external cultures, can develop hostility and prudishness towards non-normative sexual categories.