Change, Continuity and Complexity - Couverture souple

Shin, Jae-Eun

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1032653515 ISBN 13 : 9781032653518

Editeur : Routledge, 2023

Synopsis

The Mahāvidyās are the representative Tantric feminine pantheon consisting of ten goddesses. It is formed by divergent religious strands and elements: the mātṛ and yoginī worship, the cult of Kālī and Tripurasundarī, Vajrayāna Buddhism, Jain Vidyādevīs, Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava faith, Śrīvidyā, the Brahmanical strand of Puranic traditions, etc. This volume is the first attempt to explore the historical process, through which these traditions culminated in the Mahāvidyā cult and the goddesses with different origins and contradictory attributes were brought into a cluster, with special reference to socio-political changes in the lower Gaṅgā and Brahmaputra Valley between the 9th and 15th centuries CE.
Based on a close analysis of Purāṇas, Tantras and inscriptional evidence, and on extensive field research on archaeological remains as well as sacred sites, Jae-Eun Shin discusses the two trajectories of the Mahāvidyās in eastern Śākta traditions. Each led to the systematization of Daśamahāvidyās in a specific way: one, as ten manifestations of Durgā upholding dharma in the cosmic dimension, and the other, as ten mandalic goddesses bearing magical powers in the actual sacred site. Their attributes and characteristics have neither been static nor monolithic, and the mode of worship prescribed for them has changed in a dialectical religious process between Brahmanical and Tantric traditions of the region.
This is the definitive work for anyone seeking to understand goddess cults of South Asia in general and the history of eastern Śākta traditions in particular. To aid study, the volume includes images, diagrams and maps.

Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Jae-Eun Shin is currently a research collaborator at Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo. She has written extensively on goddess cults and sacred sites in eastern India and on the history of Kāmarūpa, especially its state formation and religious identity construction.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Routledge
• Date d'édition: 2023
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1032653515
• ISBN 13: 9781032653518
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 376
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible