Goddesses in South Asia : traditions and transformations / edited by R. Mahalakshmi, Megha Yadav, Malavika Binny.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Binny, Malavika, editor.

Mahalakshmi, R., editor.

Yadav, Megha, editor.

Bloomsbury Publishing (IN), publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Goddesses, South Asian--History.

Goddesses, South Asian.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 pages)

Edition:

1st edition.

Place of Publication:

New Delhi : Bloomsbury India, 2025.

Summary:

Goddess traditions have for long fascinated scholars, believers, writers and artists across South Asia. In the academic field, the diversity and complexity of goddess worship, and indeed the conceptualization of the goddess, have been illuminated through interdisciplinary methodologies and broad frameworks. This volume comprising thirteen chapters presents original research across a wide chronological and regional span, drawing on a range of literary, epigraphical, visual, archaeological, archival and ethnographic sources. With a focus on major early Indian religious traditions—Vedic, Buddhist, Jaina, Puranic, Tantric—while also giving prominence to lesser-studied traditions, such as village goddesses and so-called “minor deities,” Goddesses in South Asia draws attention to the different temporal contexts that have a bearing on the prescriptions and practices around goddess worship. It also examines the interactions between goddess worship and other religious traditions, including Islam and Christianity, raising important questions about cross-religious engagements with the divine feminine. The book invites the reader to ask: Is goddess worship indicative of the status of women in society? What do the multiplicity of goddess forms and worship indicate? How do female deities’ function within patriarchal societies? How are goddess figures represented across literary, oral, and visual media? In what way have academic and public discourses around the goddesses contributed to our understanding of goddess worship? How do goddess traditions continue to influence gender roles and social structures? The role of royal and other patronage, the institutionalizing of ritual practices, the legitimation of authority, and the construction of normative social values have been closely examined to elucidate these questions. With its critical and interdisciplinary approach, the volume offers fresh perspectives and makes a significant contribution to the study of goddess traditions in South Asia.

Contents:

List of Images, Tables and Figure Acknowledgements Introduction - R. Mahalakshmi, Malavika Binny, Megha Yadav I. The Discursive Field 1.) Framing the Goddess: Contexts, Methodologies, Concerns -R. Mahalakshmi II. Of Mothers and Others: Textual and Iconographical Conceptualisations of the Goddess 2.) Mothers, Wives, Lovers and Beyond: Goddesses in the ?g Veda and the Avesta Prerana Roy, Assistant Professor, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi 3.) Prognostication as Goddess and Goddesses in Prognostication: A Contextual Study of Goddess Traditions in the Jaina A?gavijja Trisha, Research Scholar, CHS, JNU 4.) Devi and Mahi?a: Puranic Narratives, Iconographic Representations Sneha Ganguly, Independent Scholar 5.) Of Power and Sexuality: Images of Siva and Parvati from Ka¯lan~jara Dolan Samanta, PGT, Vasant Valley School 6.) Iconographic Prescriptions for Goddesses in the Silpa Sastras Ashima Ahuja, Independent Scholar III. Protection and Power: Manifestations of the Goddess 7.) Deities for the Cities: Protector Goddesses of the Kathmandu Valley Arun Gupto, Director, Comparative South Asian Studies, South Asian Foundation for Academic Research, Kathmandu 9.) Tantric Modes of Worship of Mother Goddesses in Early Medieval Karnataka Malini Adiga, Independent Scholar 10.) The Bejeweled Beauties and Kingly Desires: The Rajapurvaprayoga of the Kamakalakalikha??a of Adinatha’s Mahakalasa?hita Navoneel Ray, Research Scholar, CHS, JNU 11.) Confronting the A??amahabhayas: Goddess Tara as Redeemer and Protector Megha Yadav, SRM University, Amaravati IV. The Making of a Goddess: Contemporary Iterations 12.) The Avar?a-Savar?a Masculine Goddess: Gender Fluidity and Caste Subversion in the Worship of Mariyamma? Malavika Binny, Kannur University 13.) Death and the Making of a Goddess Twinkle Siwach, Assistant Professor, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi 14.) Goddesses in the Diasporic Imagination: Political and Cultural Issues Anisha Saxena, Assistant Professor, SUNY, Cortland

ISBN:

93-6131-784-9

OCLC:

1520505417