Goddesses of Kathmandu Valley

Goddesses of Kathmandu Valley

Author: Arun Gupto

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-30

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1317369211

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In South Asia goddesses are conceptualized and worshipped in a fascinating range of forms — from cosmic beings to bacterial manifestations, from human-like appearances to creatures with animal and insect semblances. This book maps the diverse identities of goddesses through metaphors of grace, rage and knowledge, and offers an in-depth insight into femininity, sexual politics, ritual worships, religion, ecology and gender. Grace manifests as motherly sublimity, warring protectors, and varying personifications of sexuality. Rage encapsulates the fearful aspects of goddesses and independent identities of women. Knowledge evokes associations with order, reason and intellect in conflating gendered binaries of body/mind and nature/culture. The volume explores how these deity attributes are expressed and embedded through anthropomorphic as well as inorganic forms of nature, beautiful women, multi-legged and many-armed animals, epistemic selves, demonic beings, glamorous personifications as also grotesque sub-humans. A methodological combination of critical theory, mythological and philosophical concepts, along with popular ethnographic narratives and lived experiences, this monograph will greatly interest scholars and researchers of religious studies, cultural studies, folklore, art, literature, sociology and gender studies, especially those interested in Nepal and Hinduism.


The Living Goddess

The Living Goddess

Author: Isabella Tree

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9781780600468

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A compassionate and illuminating enquiry into the reclusive Himalayan country of Nepal and its famous Living Goddess. Written after twelve years of research, this book is emotionally engaging and deeply felt.


Goddesses of Kathmandu Valley

Goddesses of Kathmandu Valley

Author: Arun Gupto

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-30

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 131736922X

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In South Asia goddesses are conceptualized and worshipped in a fascinating range of forms — from cosmic beings to bacterial manifestations, from human-like appearances to creatures with animal and insect semblances. This book maps the diverse identities of goddesses through metaphors of grace, rage and knowledge, and offers an in-depth insight into femininity, sexual politics, ritual worships, religion, ecology and gender. Grace manifests as motherly sublimity, warring protectors, and varying personifications of sexuality. Rage encapsulates the fearful aspects of goddesses and independent identities of women. Knowledge evokes associations with order, reason and intellect in conflating gendered binaries of body/mind and nature/culture. The volume explores how these deity attributes are expressed and embedded through anthropomorphic as well as inorganic forms of nature, beautiful women, multi-legged and many-armed animals, epistemic selves, demonic beings, glamorous personifications as also grotesque sub-humans. A methodological combination of critical theory, mythological and philosophical concepts, along with popular ethnographic narratives and lived experiences, this monograph will greatly interest scholars and researchers of religious studies, cultural studies, folklore, art, literature, sociology and gender studies, especially those interested in Nepal and Hinduism.


Power Places of Kathmandu

Power Places of Kathmandu

Author:

Publisher: Inner Traditions

Published: 1995-09-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780892815401

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Award-winning photographer Kevin Bubriski captures in stunning detail the sacred places of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. Noted scholar Keith Dowman provides history and commentary on the significance of the sites.


Reciting the Goddess

Reciting the Goddess

Author: Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0190844558

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Reciting the Goddess presents the first critical study of the Svasthanivratakatha (SVK), a sixteenth-century Hindu narrative textual tradition. The extensive SVK manuscript tradition offers a rare opportunity to observe the making of a specific, distinct Hindu religious tradition. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz argues that the SVK serves as a lens through which we can observe the creation of modern 'Hinduism' in the Himalayas, as the text both mirrored and informed key moments in the self-conscious creation of Nepal as the 'world's only Hindu kingdom' in the late medieval and early modern period. Birkenholtz mines the literary historiography that is contained within the SVK text itself, chronicling the text's literary and narrative development as well as the development of the Svasthani goddess tradition. She outlines the process whereby the SVK gradually transformed into a Purana text, and became a critical source for Nepali Hindu belief and identity. She also examines the elusive character of the goddess Svasthani whose identity is tied to the pan-Hindu goddess tradition, and the representation of women in the SVK and the ways in which the text influenced local and regional debates on the ideal of Hindu womanhood. Reciting the Goddess presents Nepal's celebrated SVK as a micro-level illustration of the powerful ways in which people, place, and literature intersect to produce new ideas and concepts of identity and place, even in a historically non-literate culture.


Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power

Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power

Author: Laura Amazzone

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0761853138

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"Amazzone's voice is strong and clear. Goddess Durga promises the transformation, empowerment, and dignity that is our birthright."--Marisa Tomei, Academy Award-winning actor.


Wild Goddesses in India and Nepal

Wild Goddesses in India and Nepal

Author: Axel Michaels

Publisher: Peter Lang Group Ag, International Academic Publishers

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13:

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She kills and destroys. She causes illness and disaster. The wild goddess evokes fear and terror. People worship her with blood-sacrifices and alcohol in order to appease her rage, but also in order to participate in her power for she is at once a force of destruction and a force of regeneration, of life, and of sexuality. Her creative violence reflects the ambivalent power of nature. The idea of frightening goddesses is preserved in regionally different forms throughout South Asia. The Institute for the Science of Religions, University of Berne, and the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Zurich, coordinated a symposium on wild goddesses in India and Nepal. The papers and reports on ongoing research presented at this symposium are published in this volume.


Mother-goddesses in Kathmandu

Mother-goddesses in Kathmandu

Author: Musashi Tachikawa

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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A Study Of 15 Temples, Their Structure And History Which Possess The Images Of Eight Matrkas. Furnishes Material For Hindu Iconography In Nepal. Has 26 Chapters And Is Profusely Illustrated 272 Plates In Black And White.


From Goddess to Mortal

From Goddess to Mortal

Author: Rashmila Shakya

Publisher: Vajra Bookshop

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9789994678808

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Autobiography of the author who was worshipped as virgin goddess from 1984-1991, in Nepal.


A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses

A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses

Author: Michael Slouber

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2020-12-22

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 0520375750

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Imagining the divine as female is rare—even controversial—in most religions. Hinduism, by contrast, preserves a rich and continuous tradition of goddess worship. A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses conveys the diversity of this tradition by bringing together a fresh array of captivating and largely overlooked Hindu goddess tales from different regions. As the first such anthology of goddess narratives in translation, this collection highlights a range of sources from ancient myths to modern lore. The goddesses featured here battle demons, perform miracles, and grant rare Tantric visions to their devotees. Each translation is paired with a short essay that explains the goddess’s historical and social context, elucidating the ways religion adapts to changing times.