Conceiving the Goddess
Contributors: Mabbett, Ian
Publisher: Monash University Publishing
Place of publication: Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781925377309; 9781925377613
Subjects: Aspects of religion (non-Christian)
Description: Conceiving the Goddess is an exploration of goddess cults in South Asia that embodies research on South Asian goddesses in various disciplines. The theme running through all the contributions, with their multiple approaches and points of view, is the concept of appropriation, whereby one religious group adopts a religious belief or practice not formerly its own. What is the motivation behind this? Are such actions attempts to dominate, or to resist the domination of others, or to adapt to changing social circumstances ? or perhaps simply to enrich the religious experience of a group?s members? In examining these questions, Conceiving the Goddess considers a range of settings: a Jain goddess lurking in a Brahminical temple, the fraught relationship between the humble Cam?r caste and the river goddess Ga?g?, the mutual appropriation of disciple and goddess in the tantric exercises of Kashmiri ?aivism, and the alarming self-decapitation of the fierce goddess Chinnamast?.
Notes: Knowledge Unlatched 100430 KU Select 2016 Front List Collection

English.