Veena Das
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077404
- eISBN:
- 9780199081172
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077404.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the ...
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Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the Grihya Sutra of Gobhila; the former contains information on Hindu castes, while the latter contains information on Hindu rituals. The discussions try to show that Sanskrit texts—which are not normally used to study Indian social institutions—may also be used to study different features of Hindu social life. It introduces topics such as jatis and the categories of the Brahman, sanyasi, and king, and studies the issue of the sacred and the profane. It also considers the differences between the Chaturvedi Brahmans and Trivedi Brahmans, and narrates several myths found in the Dharmaranya Purana. The book also contains discussions on the right and left and the basic categorization of space that is used in Hindu rituals.Less
Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the Grihya Sutra of Gobhila; the former contains information on Hindu castes, while the latter contains information on Hindu rituals. The discussions try to show that Sanskrit texts—which are not normally used to study Indian social institutions—may also be used to study different features of Hindu social life. It introduces topics such as jatis and the categories of the Brahman, sanyasi, and king, and studies the issue of the sacred and the profane. It also considers the differences between the Chaturvedi Brahmans and Trivedi Brahmans, and narrates several myths found in the Dharmaranya Purana. The book also contains discussions on the right and left and the basic categorization of space that is used in Hindu rituals.
James W. Laine
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195141269
- eISBN:
- 9780199849543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195141269.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu ...
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Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu nationalist ideology. His legend expresses deeply held convictions about what Hinduism is, and how it is opposed to Islam. Through presenting specific points about the similarities of themes and the contexts in which this legend has been set, this book traces the origin and development of the Shivaji legend, examining its meaning for those who have composed and read it, and paints a complex picture of the past four centuries of national identity, awareness of themes present during colonization, the influence of an author's experience in his narrations, and, most importantly, Hindu-Muslim relations.Less
Shivaji was a noble and virtuous hero from 17th-century western India. His legend is well known and has been retold, in several different versions, as it serves as an important part of Hindu nationalist ideology. His legend expresses deeply held convictions about what Hinduism is, and how it is opposed to Islam. Through presenting specific points about the similarities of themes and the contexts in which this legend has been set, this book traces the origin and development of the Shivaji legend, examining its meaning for those who have composed and read it, and paints a complex picture of the past four centuries of national identity, awareness of themes present during colonization, the influence of an author's experience in his narrations, and, most importantly, Hindu-Muslim relations.
Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151762
- eISBN:
- 9781400842599
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151762.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist ...
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In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party blamed Gujarat's entire Muslim minority for the tragedy and incited fellow Hindus to exact revenge. The resulting violence left more than one thousand people dead—most of them Muslims—and tens of thousands more displaced from their homes. The author witnessed the bloodshed up close. This book provides a riveting ethnographic account of collective violence in which the doctrine of ahimsa—or nonviolence—and the closely associated practices of vegetarianism became implicated by legitimating what they formally disavow. The book looks at how newspapers, movies, and other media helped to fuel the pogrom. It shows how the vegetarian sensibilities of Hindus and the language of sacrifice were manipulated to provoke disgust against Muslims and mobilize the aspiring middle classes across caste and class differences in the name of Hindu nationalism. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Gujarat's culture and politics and the close ties he shared with some of the pogrom's sympathizers, the book offers a strikingly original interpretation of the different ways in which Hindu proponents of ahimsa became complicit in the very violence they claimed to renounce.Less
In 2002, after an altercation between Muslim vendors and Hindu travelers at a railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burned to death. The ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party blamed Gujarat's entire Muslim minority for the tragedy and incited fellow Hindus to exact revenge. The resulting violence left more than one thousand people dead—most of them Muslims—and tens of thousands more displaced from their homes. The author witnessed the bloodshed up close. This book provides a riveting ethnographic account of collective violence in which the doctrine of ahimsa—or nonviolence—and the closely associated practices of vegetarianism became implicated by legitimating what they formally disavow. The book looks at how newspapers, movies, and other media helped to fuel the pogrom. It shows how the vegetarian sensibilities of Hindus and the language of sacrifice were manipulated to provoke disgust against Muslims and mobilize the aspiring middle classes across caste and class differences in the name of Hindu nationalism. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Gujarat's culture and politics and the close ties he shared with some of the pogrom's sympathizers, the book offers a strikingly original interpretation of the different ways in which Hindu proponents of ahimsa became complicit in the very violence they claimed to renounce.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been ...
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While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.Less
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter focuses on a theme implicit in much of the book: the relationship of Hanuman's simian form to the mediatory religious role he assumes and to the “messages” he so effectively delivers. It ...
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This chapter focuses on a theme implicit in much of the book: the relationship of Hanuman's simian form to the mediatory religious role he assumes and to the “messages” he so effectively delivers. It first considers the preoccupation of some modern Indian authors with the “problem” of Hanuman's monkey form, situating their interventions within colonial and post-colonial debates about history, race, and cultural and biological evolution. For comparative purposes, it surveys a wider range of human responses to anthropoid primates, including the cults of simian deities in Chinese and Japanese religions and the discourse of modern primatology. Returning to India, it considers Hanuman's role in modern Hindu nationalism and in the religious patronage of the emerging middle class. Finally, it examines evidence of Hanuman's continuing rise as a comprehensive and encompassing deity, signaled by new iconography and a proliferating theological discourse. An epilogue speculates on the potential for Hanuman's role in movements promoting ecology and environmental ethics.Less
This chapter focuses on a theme implicit in much of the book: the relationship of Hanuman's simian form to the mediatory religious role he assumes and to the “messages” he so effectively delivers. It first considers the preoccupation of some modern Indian authors with the “problem” of Hanuman's monkey form, situating their interventions within colonial and post-colonial debates about history, race, and cultural and biological evolution. For comparative purposes, it surveys a wider range of human responses to anthropoid primates, including the cults of simian deities in Chinese and Japanese religions and the discourse of modern primatology. Returning to India, it considers Hanuman's role in modern Hindu nationalism and in the religious patronage of the emerging middle class. Finally, it examines evidence of Hanuman's continuing rise as a comprehensive and encompassing deity, signaled by new iconography and a proliferating theological discourse. An epilogue speculates on the potential for Hanuman's role in movements promoting ecology and environmental ethics.
Anshu Malhotra and Farina Mir (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198078012
- eISBN:
- 9780199080984
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198078012.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a ...
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This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a shared, cross-religious, cross-caste, cross-class culture. It takes as its starting point the question of whether, despite political, social, religious—indeed, historical—differences, there are notions of ‘Punjabiyat’/Punjabiness that constitute the Punjab as a region conceptually in history, culture, and practice. The essays in this volume each examine a different Punjabi culture—language-based and literary; religious and those that define a ‘community’; rural, urban, and middle class; historical, contemporary, and cosmopolitan. Together they point to the complex foundations of ‘Punjabiyat’, making this volume a major contribution to the cultural history of a region. The essays in this volume are based on a broad array of colonial and indigenous sources in Punjabi, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu. These sources range from poetry to prose, and from literary to political to religious texts (Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim). The authors draw from their expertise in the disciplines of history, religious studies, comparative literature, and architectural history to provide cogent analyses of aspects of Punjabi early modern, colonial, and post-colonial history, as well as its historiography.Less
This interdisciplinary volume seeks to consider the notion of ‘Punjabiyat’, a loosely defined term often used to describe a sentiment of belonging or attachment to Punjab and/or the foundations of a shared, cross-religious, cross-caste, cross-class culture. It takes as its starting point the question of whether, despite political, social, religious—indeed, historical—differences, there are notions of ‘Punjabiyat’/Punjabiness that constitute the Punjab as a region conceptually in history, culture, and practice. The essays in this volume each examine a different Punjabi culture—language-based and literary; religious and those that define a ‘community’; rural, urban, and middle class; historical, contemporary, and cosmopolitan. Together they point to the complex foundations of ‘Punjabiyat’, making this volume a major contribution to the cultural history of a region. The essays in this volume are based on a broad array of colonial and indigenous sources in Punjabi, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu. These sources range from poetry to prose, and from literary to political to religious texts (Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim). The authors draw from their expertise in the disciplines of history, religious studies, comparative literature, and architectural history to provide cogent analyses of aspects of Punjabi early modern, colonial, and post-colonial history, as well as its historiography.
Corinne G. Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860333
- eISBN:
- 9780199919598
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860333.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Bringing the Sacred Down to Earth celebrates the merits of carefully contextualized comparison as an illuminating approach to the study of religion. Drawing from ethnographical work in ...
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Bringing the Sacred Down to Earth celebrates the merits of carefully contextualized comparison as an illuminating approach to the study of religion. Drawing from ethnographical work in several sites over a period of sixteen years, Dempsey juxtaposes Hindu and Christian, Indian and Euroamerican religious expressions that take shape as folklore figures, democratizing theologies, sanctified terrain, and extraordinary human abilities. She uncovers how these expressions, all of which lend sacred meaning and power to the material realities of religious participants, push against systems promoting otherworldly abstractions. The book’s comparison of these religious modes deepens insights into the qualities and interpretations of the earthbound sacred, sheds light on contours otherwise obscured, and suggests possibilities for bridging human contingencies across religious and cultural divides. The method and structure of this book represent a two-tiered rebuttal to two similarly constructed critiques. A complaint commonly lodged against comparison is that it imposes abstractions that erase culturally embedded realities. Critics of religion view religious systems as likewise imposing spiritualized conceptions that neglect earthly realities. As both sets of critics see it, scholarly comparison and religion, dictated from above, easily lend themselves to imperialistic structures of oppression. Unsurprisingly, as frameworks that name and claim varieties of power, both are often guilty as charged. Yet by comparing contextually across religious and cultural divides, this book demonstrates how practitioners variously engage with religious forms and experiences that meet earthly concerns and dismantle oppressive abstractions in the process.Less
Bringing the Sacred Down to Earth celebrates the merits of carefully contextualized comparison as an illuminating approach to the study of religion. Drawing from ethnographical work in several sites over a period of sixteen years, Dempsey juxtaposes Hindu and Christian, Indian and Euroamerican religious expressions that take shape as folklore figures, democratizing theologies, sanctified terrain, and extraordinary human abilities. She uncovers how these expressions, all of which lend sacred meaning and power to the material realities of religious participants, push against systems promoting otherworldly abstractions. The book’s comparison of these religious modes deepens insights into the qualities and interpretations of the earthbound sacred, sheds light on contours otherwise obscured, and suggests possibilities for bridging human contingencies across religious and cultural divides. The method and structure of this book represent a two-tiered rebuttal to two similarly constructed critiques. A complaint commonly lodged against comparison is that it imposes abstractions that erase culturally embedded realities. Critics of religion view religious systems as likewise imposing spiritualized conceptions that neglect earthly realities. As both sets of critics see it, scholarly comparison and religion, dictated from above, easily lend themselves to imperialistic structures of oppression. Unsurprisingly, as frameworks that name and claim varieties of power, both are often guilty as charged. Yet by comparing contextually across religious and cultural divides, this book demonstrates how practitioners variously engage with religious forms and experiences that meet earthly concerns and dismantle oppressive abstractions in the process.
Axel Michaels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195343021
- eISBN:
- 9780199866984
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343021.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The book deals with festivals and rituals at the Nepalese Paśupatnātha Temple located in Deopatan, the City of (all) Gods, and the Paśupatikṣetra, the “Field of Paśupati.” Paśupati, a form of Śiva, ...
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The book deals with festivals and rituals at the Nepalese Paśupatnātha Temple located in Deopatan, the City of (all) Gods, and the Paśupatikṣetra, the “Field of Paśupati.” Paśupati, a form of Śiva, is regarded as the tutelary and protective deity of Nepal and his temple as both national and sacred monument that has since many centuries attracted thousands of pilgrims from India. After introducing the temple, its history, organisation and vicinity, all major festivals connected to it are thoroughly described and examined. The material used by the author includes mythological and eulogising texts, chronicles, inscriptions and elaborate field‐work studies. The book also deals with religious conflicts between different forms of Hinduism as well as with religious identities and contested priesthood. Due to the strength of various tantrically worshipped goddesses in Deopatan, Śiva comes under ritual pressure time and again. Underlining this religious tension are fundamental conflicts between the indigenous Newar population and the Nepali speaking population which originally immigrated from India or between the South Indian Bhaṭṭa priests and the Newar Karmācārya priests. Moreover, ritual forms of worship are contested, as in the instance of tantric forms of worship with alcohol and animal sacrifices versus pure, vegetarian forms of worship. In recent times these conflicts have increasingly been politicized and due to the impact of the World Heritage Monument policy the Paśupati area is successively restructured and shaped into a religious pilgrimage place for Indian and Western tourists.Less
The book deals with festivals and rituals at the Nepalese Paśupatnātha Temple located in Deopatan, the City of (all) Gods, and the Paśupatikṣetra, the “Field of Paśupati.” Paśupati, a form of Śiva, is regarded as the tutelary and protective deity of Nepal and his temple as both national and sacred monument that has since many centuries attracted thousands of pilgrims from India. After introducing the temple, its history, organisation and vicinity, all major festivals connected to it are thoroughly described and examined. The material used by the author includes mythological and eulogising texts, chronicles, inscriptions and elaborate field‐work studies. The book also deals with religious conflicts between different forms of Hinduism as well as with religious identities and contested priesthood. Due to the strength of various tantrically worshipped goddesses in Deopatan, Śiva comes under ritual pressure time and again. Underlining this religious tension are fundamental conflicts between the indigenous Newar population and the Nepali speaking population which originally immigrated from India or between the South Indian Bhaṭṭa priests and the Newar Karmācārya priests. Moreover, ritual forms of worship are contested, as in the instance of tantric forms of worship with alcohol and animal sacrifices versus pure, vegetarian forms of worship. In recent times these conflicts have increasingly been politicized and due to the impact of the World Heritage Monument policy the Paśupati area is successively restructured and shaped into a religious pilgrimage place for Indian and Western tourists.
Francis X. Clooney
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827879
- eISBN:
- 9780199919451
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827879.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. While this chapter recognizes what the previous chapter had to say about the growing number of Americans influenced by Hinduism, ...
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This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. While this chapter recognizes what the previous chapter had to say about the growing number of Americans influenced by Hinduism, it maintains that the influence of Buddhism is even greater. And while it is appreciative of the previous chapter’s comments, the chapter notes that the swami represents only one of the many interpretations of Hinduism, that of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, an interpretation of Hinduism that in many ways finds areas of commonality with Christianity. Finally, this chapter notes that even though the dialogue does not have the same urgency today as that with Muslims, its respondents offer a good description of a number of the important areas that need to be addressed by the Catholic-Hindu dialogue.Less
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. While this chapter recognizes what the previous chapter had to say about the growing number of Americans influenced by Hinduism, it maintains that the influence of Buddhism is even greater. And while it is appreciative of the previous chapter’s comments, the chapter notes that the swami represents only one of the many interpretations of Hinduism, that of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, an interpretation of Hinduism that in many ways finds areas of commonality with Christianity. Finally, this chapter notes that even though the dialogue does not have the same urgency today as that with Muslims, its respondents offer a good description of a number of the important areas that need to be addressed by the Catholic-Hindu dialogue.
Karen Pechilis
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195145380
- eISBN:
- 9780199849963
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195145380.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus ...
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A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus have almost always been men. Today, however, female gurus are a noticeable presence, especially in the United States. This book containing nine chapter looks at the phenomenon of the female guru both in its original Indian context, where Hindu women leaders have been unusual but not unknown, and as it has evolved on the American scene. Each chapter is devoted to a particular female guru, ranging from the 5th-century Tamil saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar to Gurumayi, who today presides over the worldwide movement of Siddha Yoga, headquartered in the Catskill resort town of South Fallsburg, New York.Less
A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher, but is often worshipped as an embodiment of the divine. In the past these gurus have almost always been men. Today, however, female gurus are a noticeable presence, especially in the United States. This book containing nine chapter looks at the phenomenon of the female guru both in its original Indian context, where Hindu women leaders have been unusual but not unknown, and as it has evolved on the American scene. Each chapter is devoted to a particular female guru, ranging from the 5th-century Tamil saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar to Gurumayi, who today presides over the worldwide movement of Siddha Yoga, headquartered in the Catskill resort town of South Fallsburg, New York.
Tracy Pintchman (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book explores the relationship between ritual practices and the lives and activities of Hindu women beyond the ritual sphere. It presumes that Hindu women are deeply engaged and invested in the ...
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This book explores the relationship between ritual practices and the lives and activities of Hindu women beyond the ritual sphere. It presumes that Hindu women are deeply engaged and invested in the performance of religious practice. Rituals that take place in Sanskritic, Brahminical Hindu environments continue to be instituted and directed largely by Brahmin males, but women largely control many types of ritual practice that occur outside of such contexts, including many household, calendrical, and local devotional practices. Even in environments where Sanskritic traditions maintain a strong presence, women often sustain active ritual agendas and function as engaged actors in many types of ritual work. Indeed, in some parts of India, women are taking leadership roles in Sanskritic ritual performance. It is maintained that Hindu women's religious practices are not isolated from social, cultural, domestic, or larger religious roles or frames of meaning but tend to engage realms that transcend individual ritual contexts. This book is divided into two parts: “Engaging Domesticity” and “Beyond Domesticity”. The first part consists of five chapters that engage domestic and interpersonal values in relation to women's ritual practices that tend to expand the boundaries of normative domesticity. The five chapters in part II, “Beyond Domesticity”, similarly reveal the many ways that women's religious performances permeate diverse realms and breach borders. These chapters collectively take up a somewhat different challenge, however, exploring women's ritual practices outside the confines of strictly domestic contexts and contesting the impulse to link women's ritual performance primarily with domestic realms and concerns.Less
This book explores the relationship between ritual practices and the lives and activities of Hindu women beyond the ritual sphere. It presumes that Hindu women are deeply engaged and invested in the performance of religious practice. Rituals that take place in Sanskritic, Brahminical Hindu environments continue to be instituted and directed largely by Brahmin males, but women largely control many types of ritual practice that occur outside of such contexts, including many household, calendrical, and local devotional practices. Even in environments where Sanskritic traditions maintain a strong presence, women often sustain active ritual agendas and function as engaged actors in many types of ritual work. Indeed, in some parts of India, women are taking leadership roles in Sanskritic ritual performance. It is maintained that Hindu women's religious practices are not isolated from social, cultural, domestic, or larger religious roles or frames of meaning but tend to engage realms that transcend individual ritual contexts. This book is divided into two parts: “Engaging Domesticity” and “Beyond Domesticity”. The first part consists of five chapters that engage domestic and interpersonal values in relation to women's ritual practices that tend to expand the boundaries of normative domesticity. The five chapters in part II, “Beyond Domesticity”, similarly reveal the many ways that women's religious performances permeate diverse realms and breach borders. These chapters collectively take up a somewhat different challenge, however, exploring women's ritual practices outside the confines of strictly domestic contexts and contesting the impulse to link women's ritual performance primarily with domestic realms and concerns.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious ...
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This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious status beyond his role as helper to Rama and Sita, the divine hero and heroine of the ancient Ramayana storytelling tradition. Additionally, it surveys contemporary popular literature and folklore through which Hanuman's mythological biography is celebrated, and describes a range of religious sites and practices that highlight different aspects of his persona. Emphasizing Hanuman's role as a “liminal” deity who combines animal, human, and divine qualities, and as a “middle-class” god within the Hindu pantheon, the book argues that such mediatory status has made Hanuman especially appealing to upwardly-mobile social groups as well as to Hindus of many sectarian persuasions.Less
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman's religious status beyond his role as helper to Rama and Sita, the divine hero and heroine of the ancient Ramayana storytelling tradition. Additionally, it surveys contemporary popular literature and folklore through which Hanuman's mythological biography is celebrated, and describes a range of religious sites and practices that highlight different aspects of his persona. Emphasizing Hanuman's role as a “liminal” deity who combines animal, human, and divine qualities, and as a “middle-class” god within the Hindu pantheon, the book argues that such mediatory status has made Hanuman especially appealing to upwardly-mobile social groups as well as to Hindus of many sectarian persuasions.
Loriliai Biernacki
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195327823
- eISBN:
- 9780199785520
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The role of women and ideas of gender are fundamental components of all religious traditions. Tantric traditions in particular offer a unique perspective on women's participation in religious ...
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The role of women and ideas of gender are fundamental components of all religious traditions. Tantric traditions in particular offer a unique perspective on women's participation in religious traditions since they frequently incorporate worship of Goddesses, along with ordinary women as participants in religious rites. This book examines the representations of women within Tantra using a case study of a selection of Hindu Tantric texts from the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries in Northeast India. Arguing for a nuanced perspective of women in Tantra, this book presents evidence for women's enhanced status in some traditions of Tantra, with women in the roles of guru and initiate. This book also addresses images of women within the Tantric rite of sexual union, arguing for multiple versions and motivations for this notorious practice. Especially this book addresses issues of discourse and speech, women's speech and speech about women, suggesting the imbrication of women's bodies within ideas of women's speech. This book examines a number of Tantric texts that have so far not been translated into Western languages. One appendix delineates the historical context for fifteenth through eighteenth century in the Northeast region of India and also surveys images of women found across a wide range of Tantric texts. The second appendix gives a chapter by chapter synopsis of the primary text used for this study, the Bṭhannīla Tantra, “The Great Blue Tantra,” a long and so far untranslated Tantric text.Less
The role of women and ideas of gender are fundamental components of all religious traditions. Tantric traditions in particular offer a unique perspective on women's participation in religious traditions since they frequently incorporate worship of Goddesses, along with ordinary women as participants in religious rites. This book examines the representations of women within Tantra using a case study of a selection of Hindu Tantric texts from the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries in Northeast India. Arguing for a nuanced perspective of women in Tantra, this book presents evidence for women's enhanced status in some traditions of Tantra, with women in the roles of guru and initiate. This book also addresses images of women within the Tantric rite of sexual union, arguing for multiple versions and motivations for this notorious practice. Especially this book addresses issues of discourse and speech, women's speech and speech about women, suggesting the imbrication of women's bodies within ideas of women's speech. This book examines a number of Tantric texts that have so far not been translated into Western languages. One appendix delineates the historical context for fifteenth through eighteenth century in the Northeast region of India and also surveys images of women found across a wide range of Tantric texts. The second appendix gives a chapter by chapter synopsis of the primary text used for this study, the Bṭhannīla Tantra, “The Great Blue Tantra,” a long and so far untranslated Tantric text.
Margaret H. Case
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195130102
- eISBN:
- 9780199848713
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book offers a close-up view of the religious world of one of the most influential families in Vrinbadan, India's premier place of pilgrimage for worshipers of Krishna. This priestly family has ...
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This book offers a close-up view of the religious world of one of the most influential families in Vrinbadan, India's premier place of pilgrimage for worshipers of Krishna. This priestly family has arguably been the most creative force in this important town. Their influence also radiates well beyond India's borders both because of their tireless work in fostering scholarship and performance about Krishna and because the scion of the family, Shrivatsa Goswami, has become an international spokesman for Hindu ways and concerns. The author, who has been an occasional resident in the family ashram, gives a real sense of the atmosphere of daily life there, and the complete devotion of the residents to the service and worship of Krishna.Less
This book offers a close-up view of the religious world of one of the most influential families in Vrinbadan, India's premier place of pilgrimage for worshipers of Krishna. This priestly family has arguably been the most creative force in this important town. Their influence also radiates well beyond India's borders both because of their tireless work in fostering scholarship and performance about Krishna and because the scion of the family, Shrivatsa Goswami, has become an international spokesman for Hindu ways and concerns. The author, who has been an occasional resident in the family ashram, gives a real sense of the atmosphere of daily life there, and the complete devotion of the residents to the service and worship of Krishna.
Vasudha Narayanan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter addresses the expression of Hindu women's religiosity through music and dance. It is argued that in contemporary Hinduism the performing arts, which are essentially forms of religious ...
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This chapter addresses the expression of Hindu women's religiosity through music and dance. It is argued that in contemporary Hinduism the performing arts, which are essentially forms of religious performance, may serve as vehicles not only for women's religious expression, but also for dynamic social commentary and reform. Examples include dancers like Mallika Sarabhai and Chandralekha, who use dance to highlight women's issues and to express themes of anguish and strength. As authors, performers, and consumers of the performing arts, women may engage music and dance both to express their own subjectivities and to help effect social change.Less
This chapter addresses the expression of Hindu women's religiosity through music and dance. It is argued that in contemporary Hinduism the performing arts, which are essentially forms of religious performance, may serve as vehicles not only for women's religious expression, but also for dynamic social commentary and reform. Examples include dancers like Mallika Sarabhai and Chandralekha, who use dance to highlight women's issues and to express themes of anguish and strength. As authors, performers, and consumers of the performing arts, women may engage music and dance both to express their own subjectivities and to help effect social change.
James W. Laine
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195141269
- eISBN:
- 9780199849543
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195141269.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The legend of Shivaji contains several narratives on his victories, raids, and escapes that always showcase his nobility and virtue. These stories are well known in Maharashtra, and they seem to ...
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The legend of Shivaji contains several narratives on his victories, raids, and escapes that always showcase his nobility and virtue. These stories are well known in Maharashtra, and they seem to point out how Shivaji is to be seen as an epitome as he possesses the region's utmost ideals. Shivaji is seen not just a man with profound courage and bravery but also as an administrator, someone who advocates social reform, a patriotic, and even as a mystic. This book attempts to understand the kind of hero Shivaji was in a Maharashtrian setting, and look into how the growth of this legend can be associated with Maharashtrian Hindu identity by examining the narrative of the legend, identifying clues of how Shivaji became an epic hero, and looking at the challenges that such a narrative may encounter.Less
The legend of Shivaji contains several narratives on his victories, raids, and escapes that always showcase his nobility and virtue. These stories are well known in Maharashtra, and they seem to point out how Shivaji is to be seen as an epitome as he possesses the region's utmost ideals. Shivaji is seen not just a man with profound courage and bravery but also as an administrator, someone who advocates social reform, a patriotic, and even as a mystic. This book attempts to understand the kind of hero Shivaji was in a Maharashtrian setting, and look into how the growth of this legend can be associated with Maharashtrian Hindu identity by examining the narrative of the legend, identifying clues of how Shivaji became an epic hero, and looking at the challenges that such a narrative may encounter.
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores the ways that South Indian Hindu women expand the boundaries of domesticity through a ritual alliance between women and the goddess Gangamma. In many Indian contexts, marriage ...
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This chapter explores the ways that South Indian Hindu women expand the boundaries of domesticity through a ritual alliance between women and the goddess Gangamma. In many Indian contexts, marriage is understood to be the quintessential domestic institution, serving most often to curtail significantly women's freedom and agency in the public sphere. A form of marriage which is socially liberating for Hindu women is considered — a form of ritual marriage that women may enact with Gangamma. When illness strikes in villages around the pilgrimage town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh — especially illnesses of poxes, rashes, and high fevers associated with the hot season and particular village goddesses — little girls may be offered to the goddess Gangamma in exchange for the latter's protection and healing. When these girls reach puberty, they exchange talis (wedding necklaces) with the goddess and are considered married to her. Their alliance with the goddess, formalized by the ritualized exchange of talis, affords them protection, freedom of movement, and agency outside the domestic sphere.Less
This chapter explores the ways that South Indian Hindu women expand the boundaries of domesticity through a ritual alliance between women and the goddess Gangamma. In many Indian contexts, marriage is understood to be the quintessential domestic institution, serving most often to curtail significantly women's freedom and agency in the public sphere. A form of marriage which is socially liberating for Hindu women is considered — a form of ritual marriage that women may enact with Gangamma. When illness strikes in villages around the pilgrimage town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh — especially illnesses of poxes, rashes, and high fevers associated with the hot season and particular village goddesses — little girls may be offered to the goddess Gangamma in exchange for the latter's protection and healing. When these girls reach puberty, they exchange talis (wedding necklaces) with the goddess and are considered married to her. Their alliance with the goddess, formalized by the ritualized exchange of talis, affords them protection, freedom of movement, and agency outside the domestic sphere.
Vijaya Rettakudi Nagarajan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores the ways that women's religious practices cross boundaries and traverse thresholds, and emphasizes continuity and overlap between private and public domains. The focus is on the ...
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This chapter explores the ways that women's religious practices cross boundaries and traverse thresholds, and emphasizes continuity and overlap between private and public domains. The focus is on the relationship between kolams – auspicious designs that women create daily at their domiciles' thresholds, and pottus – the auspicious red dots that adorn Tamil women's foreheads. It is argued that the kolam and the pottu are parallel ritual expressions that embody larger Hindu cultural values, especially auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, purity and pollution. Both kolam and pottu mark thresholds, those of the home and the body, and function to mark spatial and temporal transformations: from auspicious to inauspicious times or pure to impure ones, as in the erasure of the pottu; and the absence of kolam production during menstruation and their reappearance following the period of menses. Pottu and kolam both embody the status of married women as auspicious householders, a status that is rooted in their domestic location, but both send that auspiciousness forth beyond the domestic threshold into the larger communities in which female Hindu householders are situated.Less
This chapter explores the ways that women's religious practices cross boundaries and traverse thresholds, and emphasizes continuity and overlap between private and public domains. The focus is on the relationship between kolams – auspicious designs that women create daily at their domiciles' thresholds, and pottus – the auspicious red dots that adorn Tamil women's foreheads. It is argued that the kolam and the pottu are parallel ritual expressions that embody larger Hindu cultural values, especially auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, purity and pollution. Both kolam and pottu mark thresholds, those of the home and the body, and function to mark spatial and temporal transformations: from auspicious to inauspicious times or pure to impure ones, as in the erasure of the pottu; and the absence of kolam production during menstruation and their reappearance following the period of menses. Pottu and kolam both embody the status of married women as auspicious householders, a status that is rooted in their domestic location, but both send that auspiciousness forth beyond the domestic threshold into the larger communities in which female Hindu householders are situated.
Leslie C. Orr
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores whether a domestic religious orientation, engaged with the personal and the particular, can be observed in the context of precolonial South India. It focuses on the period ...
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This chapter explores whether a domestic religious orientation, engaged with the personal and the particular, can be observed in the context of precolonial South India. It focuses on the period between the 9th to 13th centuries in the part of India known today as Tamilnadu. The chapter draws on the resources provided by the thousands of inscriptions written in the Tamil language and engraved in stone on the walls of Hindu and Jain temples during this period. These inscriptions record actions, particularly the making of gifts to temples by a wide variety of people. It is argued that although men's and women's activities recorded on temple walls had distinctive colorings, the contexts, roles, and motives for these actions were overlapping and often congruent.Less
This chapter explores whether a domestic religious orientation, engaged with the personal and the particular, can be observed in the context of precolonial South India. It focuses on the period between the 9th to 13th centuries in the part of India known today as Tamilnadu. The chapter draws on the resources provided by the thousands of inscriptions written in the Tamil language and engraved in stone on the walls of Hindu and Jain temples during this period. These inscriptions record actions, particularly the making of gifts to temples by a wide variety of people. It is argued that although men's and women's activities recorded on temple walls had distinctive colorings, the contexts, roles, and motives for these actions were overlapping and often congruent.
Kathleen M. Erndl
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for ...
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This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for women to become possessed by a goddess, to speak with her voice, and to act as healers and mediums in their communities. Possession grants householder women opportunities to travel beyond their domiciles and form a female community with other women, however temporary. This in turn may provide women access to advice, support, or even material assistance. These ritual spaces are “cracks” in a patriarchal system that cannot be completely controlled by patriarchal norms and that provide outlets for women's creativity and interconnection.Less
This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for women to become possessed by a goddess, to speak with her voice, and to act as healers and mediums in their communities. Possession grants householder women opportunities to travel beyond their domiciles and form a female community with other women, however temporary. This in turn may provide women access to advice, support, or even material assistance. These ritual spaces are “cracks” in a patriarchal system that cannot be completely controlled by patriarchal norms and that provide outlets for women's creativity and interconnection.
