The Cult of the Goddess Pattini

The Cult of the Goddess Pattini PDF Author: Gananath Obeyesekere
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120802136
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 665

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Book Description
Pattini-goddess, virgin, wife and mother; folk deity of Sinhala Buddhists and Jains; and assimilated goddess of the Hindu pantheon-has been worshiped in Sri Lanks and South India for fifteen hundred years or more, as she still is today. This long-awaited book is the culmination of Gananath Obeyesekere's comprehensive study of the Pattini cult and its historical, sociological, and psychoanalytical role in the culture of South Asia. A well-known anthropologist and a native of Sri Lanka, Obeyesekere displays his impeccable scholarship and a stunning range of theoretical perspectives in this work, the most detailed analysis of a single religious complex in South Asian ethnography (and possibly in all of anthropology). Since 1955 Obeyesekere has observed and participated in modern performances of the rituals of worship, healing, and propitiation in the Pattini cult, particularly the postharvest ritual known as the gammaduva. He presents detailed texts of the gammaduva, placing them in their historical and mythic traditions. Using the texts, he formulates a cultural analysis of the Buddhist pantheon and a critique of empiricist notions of South Asian historiography. Obeyesekere shows that some seemingly historical figures of South India and Sri Lanka are mythic characters and that their historical significance can best be understood by an anthropological analysis of myth rather than through a reification of myth in history. The concurrent Hindu worship of Pattini with its myths and rituals is described in detail. Obeyesekere documents the Sanskritization of Pattini, the changing physical structures of the goddess's shrines from the 1930s to the present, the assumption by Brahman priests of ritual functions formerly carried out by folk priest, and the sociocultural causes of these changes. He traces, too, the origins and diffusion of the cult throughout its entire history, as well as its survival today. Of psychological interest is the problematic status of Pattini as virgin, wife, and mother and her relationship with her god-husband Palanga and his courtesan Madevi. Obeyesekere discusses the psychodynamics of this relationship in detail and explains its role in Hindu-Buddhist socialization and family structure. Further, he uses this analysis to account for local variations in the performance and structure of the ritual. The ritual of the killing and resurrection of Pattini's husband and her role as mater dolorosa will interest scholars of comparative religion.

The Cult of the Goddess Pattini

The Cult of the Goddess Pattini PDF Author: Gananath Obeyesekere
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120802136
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 665

Get Book Here

Book Description
Pattini-goddess, virgin, wife and mother; folk deity of Sinhala Buddhists and Jains; and assimilated goddess of the Hindu pantheon-has been worshiped in Sri Lanks and South India for fifteen hundred years or more, as she still is today. This long-awaited book is the culmination of Gananath Obeyesekere's comprehensive study of the Pattini cult and its historical, sociological, and psychoanalytical role in the culture of South Asia. A well-known anthropologist and a native of Sri Lanka, Obeyesekere displays his impeccable scholarship and a stunning range of theoretical perspectives in this work, the most detailed analysis of a single religious complex in South Asian ethnography (and possibly in all of anthropology). Since 1955 Obeyesekere has observed and participated in modern performances of the rituals of worship, healing, and propitiation in the Pattini cult, particularly the postharvest ritual known as the gammaduva. He presents detailed texts of the gammaduva, placing them in their historical and mythic traditions. Using the texts, he formulates a cultural analysis of the Buddhist pantheon and a critique of empiricist notions of South Asian historiography. Obeyesekere shows that some seemingly historical figures of South India and Sri Lanka are mythic characters and that their historical significance can best be understood by an anthropological analysis of myth rather than through a reification of myth in history. The concurrent Hindu worship of Pattini with its myths and rituals is described in detail. Obeyesekere documents the Sanskritization of Pattini, the changing physical structures of the goddess's shrines from the 1930s to the present, the assumption by Brahman priests of ritual functions formerly carried out by folk priest, and the sociocultural causes of these changes. He traces, too, the origins and diffusion of the cult throughout its entire history, as well as its survival today. Of psychological interest is the problematic status of Pattini as virgin, wife, and mother and her relationship with her god-husband Palanga and his courtesan Madevi. Obeyesekere discusses the psychodynamics of this relationship in detail and explains its role in Hindu-Buddhist socialization and family structure. Further, he uses this analysis to account for local variations in the performance and structure of the ritual. The ritual of the killing and resurrection of Pattini's husband and her role as mater dolorosa will interest scholars of comparative religion.

The Cult of the Mother Goddess

The Cult of the Mother Goddess PDF Author: E. O. James
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781585093823
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This book provides a complete historical overview of the Mother Goddess and her influence. All of the major female goddesses found throughout history are covered.

Cult of the Goddess

Cult of the Goddess PDF Author: James Preston
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Mother worship -- Patterns of patronage -- The ritual process -- Religious experience -- The changing complexion of Hinduism -- Symbols of transformation.

A Goddess in Motion

A Goddess in Motion PDF Author: Roger Canals
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1785336134
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
The current practice of the cult of María Lionza is one of the most important and yet unexplored religious practices in Venezuela. Based on long-term fieldwork, this book explores the role of images and visual culture within the cult. By adopting a relational approach, A Goddess in Motion shows how the innumerable images of this goddess—represented as an Indian, white or mestizo woman—move constantly from objects to bodies, from bodies to dreams, and from the religion domain to the art world. In short, this book is a fascinating study that sheds light on the role of visual creativity in contemporary religious manifestations.

In Search of God the Mother

In Search of God the Mother PDF Author: Lynn E. Roller
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520210247
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
This is the first thorough account of the nature and the spread of the cult of Cybele, the Great Mother, and the first to present her worship soberly as a religion rather than sensationally as an orgiastic celebration of self-castrated priest-attendants.

Mother of the Gods

Mother of the Gods PDF Author: Philippe Borgeaud
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 080187985X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Worshiped throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, the "Mother of the Gods" was known by a variety of names. Among peoples of Asia Minor, where her cult first began, she often shared the names of local mountains. The Greeks commonly called her Cybele, the name given to her by the Phrygians of Asia Minor, and identified her with their own mother goddesses Rhea, Gaia, and Demeter. The Romans adopted her worship at the end of the Second Punic War and called her Mater Magna, Great Mother. Her cult became one of the three most important mystery cults in the Roman Empire, along with those of Mithras and Isis. And as Christianity took hold in the Roman world, ritual elements of her cult were incorporated into the burgeoning cult of the Virgin Mary. In Mother of the Gods, Philippe Borgeaud traces the journey of this divine figure through Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome between the sixth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. He examines how the Mother of the Gods was integrated into specific cultures, what she represented to those who worshiped her, and how she was used as a symbol in art, myth, and even politics. The Mother of the Gods was often seen as a dualistic figure: ancestral and foreign, aristocratic and disreputable, nurturing and dangerous. Borgeaud's challenging and nuanced portrait opens new windows on the ancient world's sophisticated religious beliefs and shifting cultural identities.

The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah

The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah PDF Author: Judith M. Hadley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521662352
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Recent archaeological discoveries have encouraged scholars to reinvestigate the Israelite religion. In this book, Judith Hadley uses these discoveries, alongside biblical material and non-biblical inscriptions, to examine the evidence for the worship of Asherah as the partner of God in the Bible. By investigating the Khirbet al-Qom and Kuntillet 'Ajrud inscriptions, for example, where the phrase 'Yahweh and his Asherah' is frequently in evidence, the author asks what the ancient Israelites meant by this, how they construed the relationship between Yahweh and Asherah, and whether in fact the term actually referred to an object of worship rather than to a goddess. The author also evaluates more recent scholarship to substantiate her conclusions. This is a detailed and brilliant study which promises to make a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the exact nature of Asherah and her significance in pre-exilic Israel and Judah.

The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2

The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2 PDF Author: Alf Hiltebeitel
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226340481
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description
This is the first volume of a projected three-volume work on the little-known South Indian folk cult of the goddess Draupadi and on the classical epic, the Mahabharata, that the cult brings to life in mythic, ritual, and dramatic forms. Draupadi, the chief heroine of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, takes on many unexpected guises in her Tamil cult, but her dimensions as a folk goddess remain rooted in a rich interpretive vision of the great epic. By examining the ways that the cult of Draupadi commingles traditions about the goddess and the epic, Alf Hiltebeitel shows the cult to be singularly representative of the inner tensions and working dynamics of popular devotional Hinduism.

The Cult of Draupadī

The Cult of Draupadī PDF Author: Alf Hiltebeitel
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120810006
Category : Draupadī (Hindu mythology)
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
This is the first volume of a projected three-volume work on the little known South Indian folk cult of the goddess Draupadi and on the classical epic, the Mahabharata, that the cult brings to life in mythic, ritual and dramatic forms. It focuses on the Draupadi cult's own double mythology, moving from its storieis about Draupadi's 'primal temple' near the capital of the medieval South Indian Kingdom of Gingee to its version of the Mahabharata war on the North Indian plain of Kuruksetra. Throughout, Hiltebeitel intertwines 'regional' data, gathered from both oral and written sources, with the 'epic', drawn from the cult's own performative traditions as well as from classical versions of the Mahabharata in both Tamil and Sanskrit. He re-examines many issues critical to Indological studies and takes up them while breaking new ground in investigating the further rapport between the Hindu goddess and the Indian epic. Future volumes will treat the rituals of the Draupadi cult and the Mahabharata as seen through a Draupadi cult retrospective. Contents List of Maps, List of Plates, List of Tables, Preface, Acknowledgements, Conventions, PART I: From Gingee: Introduction: Invocatory Songs to Draupadi, 'The Lady Who Resides in Gingee', The Draupadi Cult: Its Historical and Regional Settings, Social Background, Diffusion, Variation, and Change, The Sources of the Gingee Kingdom: The Living River and the Tree of Gold, Myths of the Melacceri Draupadi Temple, Muttal Ravuttan: Draupadi's Muslim Devotee, PART II: To Kuruksetra: The Draupadi Cult's Mahabharata: An Introduction, The Death of Baka: Prelude to the Drama Cycle, Additional Marriages, The two Sabhas: 'The Rajasuya Sacrifice' and 'Dice Match and Disrobing' , Arjuna's Tapas, Draupadi's Forest Exile and the Period in Disguise: Virapancali, Puvalicci, and Kuravanci, Krsna the Messenger, Aravan's Sacrifice, Pormannan's Fight: Pottu Raja at Kuruksetra, Pormannan's Flight: The War Kings Weapons and Their Mythical Sources, Kuruksetra: The Mahabharata War, When Draupadi Walked on fire, Appendix 1: The Lunar Dynasty from its origins to draupadi's Second Advent at Gingee, Appendix 2. An outline History of Gingee, Abbreviations, Bibliography, Index.

The White Goddess

The White Goddess PDF Author: Robert Graves
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 9780374504939
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
The White Goddess is perhaps the finest of Robert Graves's works on the psychological and mythological sources of poetry. In this tapestry of poetic and religious scholarship, Graves explores the stories behind the earliest of European deities—the White Goddess of Birth, Love, and Death—who was worshipped under countless titles. He also uncovers the obscure and mysterious power of "pure poetry" and its peculiar and mythic language.