Servants of the Goddess
Servants of the Goddess

Author: Catherine Rubin Kermorgant

Publisher: Random House India

Published: 2014-02-24

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 8184005601

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Servants of the Goddess weaves together the heartbreaking, yet paradoxically life-affirming stories of five devadasis—women, in the clutches of an ancient fertility cult, forced to serve the gods. Catherine Rubin Kermorgant sets out attempting to make a documentary film about the lives of present-day devadasis. Through her, we meet and get to know the devadasi women of Kalyana, a remote village in Karnataka. As they grow to trust Kermorgant and welcome her as an honorary sister, we hear their stories in their own words: stories of oppression, discrimination, violence and, most importantly, resilience. Kermorgant becomes a part of these stories and finds herself unwittingly enmeshed in a world of gender and caste bias which extends far beyond Kalyana—all the way to Paris, where the documentary is to be edited and produced. Servants of the Goddess is a testament to women’s strength and spirit, and a remarkably astute analysis of gender and caste relations in today’s rural India.

Servants of the Goddess
Servants of the Goddess

Author: C. J. Fuller

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1984-03-29

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780521247771

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The Minaksi Temple is one of the largest, most celebrated and most popular Hindu temples in India. Situated in the ancient south Indian city of Madurai, it is dedicated to the goddess Minaksi and her husband the god Sundaresvara, a form of the great god Śiva. Minaksi's principal servants in the Temple are the priests who carry out all the elaborate rituals for her and Sundaresvara, and these priests are the subject of this book. Drawing upon his extensive field research in the Temple, Dr Fuller discusses the role of the priests in the Temple and their place in the wider society. He looks at their rights and duties in the Temple, and at the changes in their position that have occurred since the establishment of a modern government and legal system. Throughout his book, the author situates his detailed analysis of the Minaksi Temple priesthood within its wider social and historical context, and relates it to the previous work of anthropologists, as well as of historians, Sanskritists and legal scholars.

Goddesses #1: Heaven Sent
Goddesses #1: Heaven Sent

Author: Clea Hantman

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2002-02-05

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9780064408752

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Thalia persuades her sisters, Muses Era and Polly, to help her avoid an arranged marriage, but their plan goes awry and Zeus sends the girls to Earth--only instead of arriving in ancient Athens, Greece, they arrive in modern Athens, Georgia.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Author: Sue Lynn Tan

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2022-01-11

Total Pages: 427

ISBN-13: 0063031329

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The acclaimed national and international bestseller “Epic, romantic, and enthralling from start to finish.”—Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series “An all-consuming work of literary fantasy that is breathtaking both for its beauty and its suspense."—BookPage, starred review A captivating and romantic debut epic fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince. To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic, of loss and sacrifice—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

Before We Visit the Goddess
Before We Visit the Goddess

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-04-25

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1476792011

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"A new novel from the author of Oleander Girl, a novel in stories, built around crucial moments in the lives of 3 generations of women in an Indian/Indian-American Family"--

Black God
Black God

Author: Dr. Supreme Understanding

Publisher: Supreme Design Publishing

Published: 2013-12-13

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13:

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The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York
The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York

Author: Corinne G. Dempsey

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-12-15

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0199884862

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The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York is a profile of a flourishing Hindu temple in the town of Rush, New York. The temple, established by a charismatic nonbrahman Sri Lankan Tamil known as Aiya, stands out for its combination of orthodox ritual meticulousness and socioreligious iconoclasm. The vitality with which devotees participate in ritual themselves and their ready access to the deities contrasts sharply with ritual activities at most North American Hindu temples, where (following the usual Indian custom) ritual is performed only by priests and access to the highly sanctified divine images is closely guarded. Drawing on several years of fieldwork, Dempsey weaves traditional South Asian tales, temple miracle accounts, and devotional testimonials into an analysis of the distinctive dynamics of diaspora Hinduism. She explores the ways in which the goddess, the guru, and temple members reside at cultural and religious intersections, noting how distinctions between miraculous and mundane, convention and non-convention, and domestic and foreign are more often intertwined and interdependent than in tidy opposition. This lively and accessible work is a unique and important contribution to diaspora Hindu Studies.

The Realms of the Gods
The Realms of the Gods

Author: Tamora Pierce

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2009-12-08

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1439132097

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During a dire battle against the fearsome Skinners, Daine and her mage teacher Numair are swept into the Divine Realms. Though happy to be alive, they are not where they want to be. They are desperately needed back home, where their old enemy, Ozorne, and his army of strange creatures are waging war against Tortall. Trapped in the mystical realms Daine discovers her mysterious parentage. And as these secrets of her past are revealed so is the treacherous way back to Tortall. So they embark on an extraordinary journey home, where the fate of all Tortall rests with Daine and her wild magic.

Servant of the Underworld
Servant of the Underworld

Author: Aliette de Bodard

Publisher: Watkins Media Limited

Published: 2010-10-26

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0857660322

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IT IS THE YEAR ONE-KNIFE IN TENOCHTITLAN - THE CAPITAL OF THE AZTECS. The end of the world is kept at bay only by the magic of human sacrifice. A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. Acatl, High Priest of the Dead must find her, or break the boundaries between the worlds of th living and the dead. But how do you find someone, living or dead, in a world where blood sacrifices are an everyday occurrence and the very gods stalk the streets? File Under: Fantasy [ Aztec Mystery | Locked Room | Human Sacrifice | The Dead Walk! ]