Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals

by Rachel Fell McDermott

Annually during the months of autumn, Bengal hosts three interlinked festivals to honor its most important goddesses: Durga, Kali, and Jagaddhatri. While each of these deities possesses a distinct iconography, myth, and character, they are all martial. Durga, Kali, and Jagaddhatri often demand blood sacrifice as part of their worship and offer material and spiritual benefits to their votaries. Richly represented in straw, clay, paint, and decoration,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231129181
• ISBN13: 9780231129183
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 392 Pages
• Age Range: 22 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher