Devi
Subtitle: Goddesses of India (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: July 1, 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 373
ISBN-13: 9780520200579
Subjects: Hinduism; Comparative Religion; Religion - World Religions; Religion; India; Religion / General; Goddesses, Hindu
First sentence: There are multiple dimensions to posing the apparently straightforward question of who is the Great Goddess of India, the Devi, and how she is related to other Hindu deities.
Description: "The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have severely limited the portrayal of the divine as feminine. But in Hinduism "God" very often means "Goddess." This extraordinary collection explores twelve different Hindu goddesses, all of whom are in some way related to Devi, the Great Goddess. They range from the liquid goddess-energy of the River Ganges to the possessing, entrancing heat of Bhagavati and Seranvali. They are local, like Vindhyavasini, and global, like Kali ancient, like Saranyu, and modern, like "Mother India." The collection combines analysis of texts with intensive fieldwork, allowing the reader to see how goddesses are worshiped in everyday life. In these compelling essays, the divine feminine in Hinduism is revealed as never before -- fascinating, contradictory, powerful."--Back cover.