Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great GoddessTracy Pintchman While Hindus recognize and revere a variety of different goddesses, they also tend to speak of one Great Goddess, Mahadevi, as a singular divine being who is the unity underlying all female deities. In this book, ten scholars reflect on both the diverse depictions of Mahadevi found in textual and devotional environments and the ways that the singularity and multiplicity of the divine Hindu feminine are negotiated. Seeking Mahadevicovers various geographical locations, from the Punjab and Bengal in North India to Kerala and Tamilnadu in the South, and makes use of evidence from ancient texts and contemporary interviews, male-authored documents and women's possession experiences, myth, ritual, and folklore. Arguing that Mahadevi has multiple, context-dependent identities that are constructed through human interpretive activity, this book highlights the great diversity of ways that those who worship Mahadevi conceive of and portray her. Contributors include C. Mackenzie Brown, Sarah Caldwell, Thomas Coburn, Elaine Craddock, Kathleen M. Erndl, Jeffrey J. Kripal, Usha Menon, Tracy Pintchman, Andhra Pradesh, and Mark Edwin Rohe. |
Contents
The Tantric and Vedantic Identity of the Great Goddess in the Devi Glta of the DevlBhagavata Purana C Mackenzie Brown | 19 |
Mahadevl as Mother The Oriya Hindu Vision of Reality Usha Menon | 37 |
Ambiguous and Definitive The Greatness of Goddess Vaisno Devi Mark Edwin Rohe | 55 |
The Goddess as Fount of the Universe Shared Visions and Negotiated Allegiances in Puranic Accounts of Cosmogenesis Tracy Pintchman | 77 |
Waves of Beauty Rivers of Blood Constructing the Goddess in Kerala Sarah Caldwell | 93 |
From Village to City Transforming Goddesses in Urban Andhra Pradesh Sree Padma | 115 |
Reconstructing the Split Goddess as Sakti in a Tamil Village Elaine Craddock | 145 |
Perfecting the Mothers Silence Dream Devotion and Family in the Deification of Sharada Devi Jeffrey J Kripal | 171 |
Goddesses and the Goddess in Hinduism Constructing the Goddess through Religious Experience Kathleen M Erndl | 199 |
What Is a Goddess and What Does It Mean to Construct One? Thomas B Coburn | 213 |
Glossary | 223 |
227 | |
Contributors | 243 |
247 | |
Other editions - View all
Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess Tracy Pintchman Limited preview - 2001 |
Seeking Mahādevī: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess Tracy Pintchman Limited preview - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Andhra Andhra Pradesh anthill Asura avatāra Bavāṇiyamman Bhadrakāļi Bhagavati Bhubaneshwar Bhuvaneśvarī birth blood body boon Brahman cave Coburn construction contexts cosmogenesis cosmogonic creation cults Dārika darśan deity Delhi demon Devi Gītā Devi-Bhāgavata Devī-Māhātmya Devi's devotees divine dream Durgā embodied Erndl essay female gender Goddess gods head Hinduism Holy Mother Hrīm husband icon identified identity incarnations India Jammu Jayrambati Kālī Kālī's Kathā Kerala Kinsley Kṛṣṇa Lakṣmī linga Mackenzie Brown Mahādevī Mahālakṣmī Mahāvidyās male manifestations Māriyamman Mātā māyā Māyer myth narrative nature Oriya Hindus Pārvatī Periyapāļaiyam pilgrimage pilgrims pinḍis portrayed Pradesh prakṛti priests pūjā Purāņa Purāņic Rādhā Ramakrishna relationship religious Reņukā ritual role sacrifice Śaiva Śākta Śakti Sanskrit Sharada shrine Śiva Śiva's social songs Śrī story supreme symbol Tamil Tantric Tārā Devī temple textual told tradition transcends universe Upanisad Vaiṣṇava Vaiṣņo Vaiṣṇo Devī village goddess Visakhapatnam vision Viṣņu woman women worship yakṣa