Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions

Sree Padma

Explores the sometimes spectacular death and subsequent deification of Indian women apparent in rites such as sati
Analyzes the sudden popularity and proliferation of local goddesses that have gained national public attention

Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions

Sree Padma

Description

This book provides a detailed history of Hindu goddess traditions with a special focus on the local goddesses of Andhra Pradesh, past and present. The antiquity and the evolution of these goddess traditions are illustrated and documented with the help of archaeological reports, literary sources, inscriptions and art. Tracing the symbols and images of goddess into the brahmanical (Saiva and Vaisnava), Buddhist, and Jaina religious traditions, the book argues effectively how and with what motivations goddesses and their symbolizations were appropriated and transformed. The book also examines the evolution of popular Hindu goddesses such as Durga and Kali, discussing their tribal and agricultural backgrounds. It also deals extensively with how and in what circumstances women are deified and shows how these deified women cults share characteristics with the village goddesses.

Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions

Sree Padma

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Goddess Explained - Perspectives From the West

2. Contextualizing the Fertility Goddess and the Gramadevata

3. Fertility Symbols of the Goddesses:
Historical Renderings and Contemporary Practices

4. Profiles of Anthropomorphic Goddesses in Myth, Ritual, and History

5. Bala Perantalu:
Auspicious Virgin Mothers

6. Perantalu:
Auspicious Wives

7. Deifying Victimized Women:
Sacrifices and Murders

Conclusion

Bibliography

Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions

Sree Padma

Author Information

Sree Padma is the executive director of the Inter-Collegiate Sri Lanka Education (ISLE) Program, a study abroad program in Sri Lanka. She also teaches at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, offering courses on the cultural history of south Asia. She is the author of Costume, Coiffure, and Ornament in the Temple Sculpture of Northern Andhra (1991) and the co-editor of Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra (2008).

Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions

Sree Padma

Reviews and Awards

"A coherent and convincing thesis on goddess worship...Padma's methodological approach combining anthropology, archaeology, history, and mythology is refreshing and boldly successful...Her synthesis of pre-Vedic, Buddhist, Jaina, Vaisnava, and Saiva material into the framework of village goddess worship enriches her findings and makes her study unique...Her appraisals of on-the-ground religious practices past and present offer much to experts and non-experts interested in a new lens through which to approach Indic religions."--H-NET

"In this monumental book, Sree Padma traces the history of village goddess traditions in Andhra Pradesh, India from prehistoric to contemporary times. She engages an impressive array of textual, material, and ethnographic sources to explore both continuities and transformations in goddess cults. This book will change how scholars think about South Asian goddesses." - Tracy Pintchman, Director of International Studies, Loyola University Chicago