Mutating Goddesses traces the shifting fortunes of four specific Hindu deities - Manasa, Candi, Sasthi and Laksmi--- from the fifteenth century to the present time. It focuses on the goddess-invested tradition of Bengal's Hinduism to argue for a historical evolution/devolution of divinities in tandem with sectarian interests and illumines in the process the knotted correlation of gender, caste and class in the sanctioning of female subjectivities through goddess formation.
The critical studies of Hindu goddesses have been dominated by the sastrik perspective deriving from the Sanskrit scriptures authorized by the male Brahman. But there are religious practices and beliefs under the broad rubric of Hinduism that are neither governed by the male Brahman nor articulated in Sanskrit. It is this vibrant laukika archive-- - considered low from the hegemonic perspective---that M utating Goddesses explores to realize the politic trafficking between this realm and the sastrik. The book excavates the multiple and layered heritage of the region which includes tribal culture, Buddhism, Tantricism, and so on, as is available in rituals, proverbs, verses, circulating myths, poetic genres and kathas, caste manuals, census records etc to illustrate how tradition is a matter of strategic selection.

zlib/no-category/Unknown/Mutating Goddesses by Dr Saswati Sengupta_14357956.mobi

Mutating goddesses : Bengal's laukika Hinduism and gender rights

Sengupta, Dr Saswati

DR SASWATI SENGUPTA

IRL Press at Oxford University Press

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

German Historical Institute London

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

First edition, New Delhi, 2021

FR, 2020

Mutating Goddesses traces the shifting fortunes of four specific Hindu deities - Manasa, Candi, Sasthi and Laksmi - from the fifteenth century to the present time. It focuses on the goddess-invested tradition of Bengal's Hinduism to argue for a historical evolution/devolution of divinities in tandem with sectarian interests and illumines in the process the knotted correlation of gender, caste and class in the sanctioning of female subjectivities through goddess formation. 0The critical studies of Hindu goddesses have been dominated by the sastrik perspective deriving from the Sanskrit scriptures authorized by the male Brahman. But there are religious practices and beliefs under the broad rubric of Hinduism that are neither governed by the male Brahman nor articulated in Sanskrit. It is this vibrant laukika archive - considered low from the hegemonic perspective - that Mutating Goddesses explores to realize the politic trafficking between this realm and the sastrik. The book excavates the multiple and layered heritage of the region which includes tribal culture, Buddhism, Tantricism, and so on, as is available in rituals, proverbs, verses, circulating myths, poetic genres and kathas, caste manuals, census records etc to illustrate how tradition is a matter of strategic selection

"It is an enduring contradiction that Hindus revere their goddesses but their society is dominated by Brahmanical patriarchy. Although we assume that the worship of goddesses implies the celebration of so-called female power, we overlook how the development of such practices of devotion occurred within a highly patriarchal society that subjugated women in everyday life. Addressing this oversight, Mutating Goddesses traces the shifting fortunes of four goddesses--Manasā, Caṇḍī, Ṣaṣṭhī, and Lakṣmī--and their mutation within the goddess-invested tradition of Bengal's Hinduism. It uses the vibrant laukika archive comprising religious practices and beliefs that, unlike the ṣāstrik perspective, have not been affected by the emergence and consolidation of the male Brahman and the Sanskrit language. Using narratives such as kathās, laukika bratakathās, and maṅgalkābyas, Sengupta explores the period between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries and investigates the correlation of gender, caste, and class in the sanctioning of female subjectivities through goddess formation. Thus, she excavates the multiple and layered heritage of Bengal to illustrate how tradition is a result of strategic selection by those in power"--Publisher's description

It is an enduring contradiction that Hindus revere their goddesses but their society is dominated by Brahmanical patriarchy. Although we assume that the worship of goddesses implies the celebration of so-called female power, we overlook how the development of such practices of devotion occurred within a highly patriarchal society that subjugated women in everyday life. Addressing this oversight, Mutating Goddesses traces the shifting fortunes of four goddesses--Manasā, Caṇḍī, Ṣaṣṭhī, and Lakṣmī--and their mutation within the goddess-invested tradition of Bengal's Hinduism. It uses the vibrant laukika archive comprising religious practices and beliefs that, unlike the ṣāstrik perspective, have not been affected by the emergence and consolidation of the male Brahman and the Sanskrit language. Using narratives such as kathās, laukika bratakathās, and maṅgalkābyas, Sengupta explores the period between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries and investigates the correlation of gender, caste, and class in the sanctioning of female subjectivities through goddess formation. Thus, she excavates the multiple and layered heritage of Bengal to illustrate how tradition is a result of strategic selection by those in power. -- Provided by publisher

2021-05-20