A Study of Skanda Cult

A Study of Skanda Cult PDF Author: S. S. Rana
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
On the cult of Kārttikeya, Hindu deity.

A Study of Skanda Cult

A Study of Skanda Cult PDF Author: S. S. Rana
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
On the cult of Kārttikeya, Hindu deity.

The Cult of Skanda-Kārttikeya in Ancient India

The Cult of Skanda-Kārttikeya in Ancient India PDF Author: Asim Kumar Chatterjee
Publisher: Calcutta : Punthi Pustak
ISBN:
Category : Kārttikeya (Hindu deity)
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description


The Rise of Mahāsena

The Rise of Mahāsena PDF Author: Richard D. Mann
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004218866
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
This book studies the early development of Skanda-Kārttikeya’s Hindu cult from its earliest textual and material sources to the end of the Gupta Empire in the north of India. The text argues that Skanda’s early ‘popular’ cult is found in Graha and Mātṛ traditions oriented towards appeasing potentially dangerous spirits. Once propitiated, however, Skanda and his Grahas/ Mātṛs could become fierce protectors of their followers. During the Kuṣāṇa and Gupta empires, this tradition gains the attention of rulers, who transform the deity’s protective cult into one focused on the ruler’s military prowess and right to rule. Once detached from his former popular traditions the deity’s cult begins to falter in the north as it becomes increasingly focused on elite agendas.

The Tyāgarāja Cult in Tamilnāḍu

The Tyāgarāja Cult in Tamilnāḍu PDF Author: Rajeshwari Ghose
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
ISBN: 9788120813915
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
Tiruvarur in the Thanjavur district of Tamilnadu was the centre of Saiva and Sakta worship from very ancient times. The Saiva cult revolved around the Tyagaraja icon enshrined in a temple bearing the name of the image. Interestingly, Tyagaraja is not the principle deity but a processional icon and is in fact an amalgam of three deities--Siva his consort Uma and their child Skanda. Tyagaraja is a Somaskanda and the first visual representation of this composite deity can be traced to the time of Pallava rule.

Heroic Shāktism

Heroic Shāktism PDF Author: Bihani Sarkar
Publisher: British Academy Postdoctoral F
ISBN: 9780197266106
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Heroic Saktism is the belief that a good king and a true warrior must worship the goddess Durga, the form and substance of kingship. This belief formed the bedrock of ancient Indian practices of cultivating political power. Wildly dangerous and serenely benevolent at one and the same time, the goddess's charismatic split nature promised rewards for a hero and king and success in risky ventures. This book is the first expansive historical treatment of the cult of Durga and the role it played in shaping ideas and rituals of heroism in India between the 3rd and the 12th centuries CE. Within the story of ancient Indian kingship, two critical transitions overlapped with the rise of heroic Saktism: the decline of the war-god Skanda-Mahasena as a military symbol, and the concomitant rise of the early Indian kingdom. As the rhetoric of kingship once strongly linked to the older war god shifted to the cultural narratives of the goddess, her political imagery broadened in its cultural resonance. And indigenous territorial deities became associated with Durga as smaller states unified into a broader conception of civilization. By assessing the available epigraphic, literary and scriptural sources in Sanskrit, and anthropological studies on politics and ritual, Bihani Sarkar demonstrates that the association between Indian kingship and the cult's belief-systems was an ancient one based on efforts to augment worldly power.

Saivism in the Diaspora

Saivism in the Diaspora PDF Author: Ron Geaves
Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK)
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
The book will explore contemporary manifestations of the worship of Siva that have transmigrated to the West. It explores Hindu vernacular traditions or 'village Hinduism' especially in the context of the Hindu diaspora, where the general assumption is that such forms of Hinduism cannot survive as they lack the infrastructure and the rural environment. Based on extensive fieldwork in Britain and India, the author shows that significant developments are taking place where Hindu communities have achieved sufficient concentration for various movements to appear that reproduce 'folk traditions' connected to a particular locale in the subcontinent. These movements often display a focus on the pragmatic or apotropaic motivation for worship of deities associated with healing. The focus is on the Baba Balaknath communities originating in the Punjab and Himachal Pradesh; the worship of Murugan amongst Tamil populations and the Community of the Many Names of God in Wales which originated in the worship of Subramaniyam in Shri Lanka. The book will not only throw some clarity on changing beliefs and practices in the Hindu diaspora, particularly the role of the apotropaic or pragmatic dimension, it will also help to understand important theoretical concepts such as Sanskritisation and the relationship between the 'Little Tradition' and the 'Great Tradition' or All-India and local traditions.

The Many Faces of Murukan

The Many Faces of Murukan PDF Author: Fred W. Clothey
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110804107
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems - both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.

The Purāṇas

The Purāṇas PDF Author: Ludo Rocher
Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
ISBN: 9783447025225
Category : Hindu literature, Sanskrit
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description


Skanda Purāna

Skanda Purāna PDF Author: Savitri Saxena
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Puranas
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description


The World of the Skandapurāṇa

The World of the Skandapurāṇa PDF Author: Hans Bakker
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004277145
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The World of the Skandapurāṇa explores the historical, religious and literary environment that gave rise to the composition and spread of this early Purana text devoted to Siva. It is argued that the text originated in circles of Pasupata ascetics and laymen, probably in Benares, in the second half of the 6th and first half of he 7th centuries. The book describes the political developments in Northern India after the fall of the Gupta Empire until the successor states which arose after the death of king Harsavardhana of Kanauj in the second half of the 7th century. The work consists of two parts. In the first part the historical environment in which this Purāṇa was composed is described. The second part explores six localities in Northern India that play a prominent role in the text. It is richly illustrated and contains a detailed bibliography and index.