Victory to the Mother: The Hindu Goddess of Northwest India in Myth, Ritual, and Symbol
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Book Overview
The worship of Devi, the Goddess, is one of the most vigorous and visible religious phenomena in northwest India today. In this groundbreaking book, Kathleen Erndl uses interviews, participant observations, and her own acute observations to explore the nature of the Goddess and her devotees' experience of her. Beginning with an analysis of oral and written sources, Erndl then examines specific ritual practices--including pilgrimage, performance, and divine possession--and presents case studies of women devotees who became 'possessed' by the Goddess and are worshipped as her representatives. The effects of modernization and popular culture on Goddess worship are revealed in the influence of popular religious pamphlets and the recent absorption of the "new" goddess, Santoshi Ma, into the pantheon. A final chapter suggests a number of ways of understanding the continuing vitality of the goddess as a mythic presence in the lives of contemporary Hindus.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0195070151
ISBN13:9780195070156
Release Date:February 1993
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Length:232 Pages
Weight:0.70 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Good book to read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
An interesting book about the Goddess cult of NW India. Very informative. Shows the various temples, pilgrimages, rituals and so on. Feels like you are experiencing it yourself. An important chapter on the embodiment of divinity, about regular women who become possessed by the Goddess. Shows the controversy around the cessation of animal sacrifice.
To Know The Goddess
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
I've been seeking an historical analysis of The Goddess, particularly Vaishno Devi. (When might she have lived? Did she live an ordinary childhood? Etc.) I didn't find quite as much of that here as I'd hoped, but I found more here than anywhere else. What impressed me about this book is that although the author is an American academic, she didn't limit herself to the dry, detached approach that academics usually take. She took her time and participated in many rituals and got to know the devotees and their experience of the Goddess. She even seemed to have developed some passion for her subject. So I feel that I have gotten the Goddess experience as much as is possible from my armchair.
Beautiful book about Kali/Durga/Shakti.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
A beautiful book! Altho Kali/Durga/Shakti is a well-known Goddess to many in the West, almost all information about Her worship comes from the Tantrik cults of Southern India. Here, Erndl introduces the reader to the Northern India Seranvali cult, in which the Goddess is worshipped as the Great Mother.We are taken on pilgrimages to many Goddess sites, walked through a night-long ceremony in Her honor, and told Her important myths. This book moved me deeply. Jai Mata Di (Victory to the Goddess)!
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