At the Feet of the Goddess The Divine

This book explores local Hindu goddesses and their worship in a village settlement on Orissa and a small town in southern Tamilnade, India. The study raises and answers three questions. Is early goddess-centered literature still applicable to contemporary

Lynn Foulston is a Research Associate of the University of Wales College, Newport, affiliated to SCARAB (Centre for the Study of Culture, Archaeology, Religions and Biogeography).

List of maps, tables, temple plans and plates

viii

Note on the languages used and their transliteration

xi

Foreword

xiii

Kathleen Erndl

Preface and acknowledgements

xv

Introduction

1

(3)

The Concept of Female Divinity in Hinduism

4

(16)

The goddess and the Indus Valley Civilization

4

(1)

The textual goddess

5

(6)

The goddess and the Vedic period

5

(2)

The importance of the Vedantic period

7

(1)

Goddesses in the Classical period

8

(3)

The metaphysical goddess

11

(4)

The Devi-Mahatmya

11

(2)

The Devi-Bhagavatam Purana

13

(2)

Pan-Indian goddesses

15

(2)

Essentially benign goddesses

16

(1)

Essentially fierce goddesses

16

(1)

Village or local goddesses

17

(3)

Village and Urban Sacred Places

20

(42)

Khurdapur: a village settlement in Orissa

20

(4)

Cholavandan: a small town in Tamilnadu

24

(5)

Classical temple building

29

(3)

Temples, temple/shrines and shrines

32

(3)

The features of a temple

33

(1)

The features of a temple/shrine

33

(1)

The features of a shrine

33

(2)

Temples and shrines in Khurdapur

35

(2)

Temples

37

(1)

Temple/shrines

38

(3)

Shrines

41

Temples and shrines in Cholavandan

33

(27)

Temples

33

(23)

Temple/shrines

56

(2)

Shrines

58

(2)

Comparisons and contrasts

60

(2)

Village and Urban Goddesses: Origins and Associations

62

(23)

Origin myths

62

(16)

The goddesses of Khurdapur

64

(4)

The goddesses of Cholavandan

68

(10)

Associations with pan-Indian goddesses

78

(5)

Associations with pan-Indian goddesses in Khurdapur

78

(3)

Associations with pan-Indian goddesses in Cholavandan

81

(2)

Comparisons and contrasts

83

(2)

Power and Impurity

85

(22)

Collective and individual power of local goddesses

86

(5)

The power of goddesses in Khurdapur

86

(1)

The power of goddesses in Cholavandan

87

(3)

The extent of the village or urban goddess's power

90

(1)

The power of the devotees

91

(1)

Brahmanization or Sanskritization of goddesses

92

(7)

The extent of Brahmanization/Sanskritization in Khurdapur

93

(1)

The extent of Brahmanization/Sanskritization in Cholavandan

93

(3)

Control of fierce goddesses

96

(1)

The goddess as victim

97

(2)

The purity or impurity of the goddesses

99

(6)

Comparisons and contrasts

105

(2)

The Protective Nature of the Goddesses

107

(17)

Previous studies

108

(1)

Goddesses and disease

109

(6)

Disease in Khurdapur

113

(1)

Disease in Cholavandan

114

(1)

Are local goddesses angry and malevolent?

115

(6)

The angry goddess in Khurdapur

115

(1)

The angry goddess in Cholavandan

116

(5)

Are local goddesses ambivalent and unpredictable?

121

(1)

Comparisons and contrasts

122

(2)

Local Ritual Practice

124

(48)

Rituals of devotion

125

(6)

Abhiseka (Tam. apiseka) and decoration of the goddess

125

(2)

Procession around the streets

127

(3)

The planting of mulaipari, a pot containing nine grains

130

(1)

The offering of mavilakku, rice-flour lamps

131

(1)

Hook swinging and fire-pot carrying

131

(2)

Fire-walking

133

(7)

Fire-walking in Khurdapur

134

(1)

The purity of the fire pit

135

(1)

The power of the goddess and fire-walking

136

(1)

Fire-walking in Tamilnadu and Cholavandan

137

(3)

Possession

140

(9)

Santosi Ma Friday worship

145

(4)

Sacrifice (Skt. bali, Tam. pali)

149

(10)

Pausa Purnnima sacrifice in Khurdapur

151

(1)

Pana Sankranti sacrifice in Khurdapur

151

(2)

Cremation-ground rituals and sacrifices

153

(1)

Maha-Sivaratri in Cholavandan

154

(5)

Protection and purification

159

(3)

Tying a protective thread

160

(2)

Purification rituals

162

(1)

Ritual practice inside and outside the temple or shrine

162

(7)

Rituals that take place in the realm of the goddess

163

(1)

Rituals that take place outside the realm of the goddess

164

(4)

Sakti karakam - invocation and final immersion

168

(1)

Comparisons and contrasts

169

(3)

Reassessing Local Goddesses

172

(19)

Previous models

173

(5)

A new approach

178

(2)

Reappraisal of local goddesses

180

(8)

Conclusion - uniformity or diversity?

188

(3)

Notes

191

(17)

Glossary

208

(6)

Chronology

214

(1)

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At the Feet of the Goddess The Divine Feminine in Local Hindu Religion

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials