The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2
On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess
556 pages
|
38 halftones, 15 line drawings, 6 tables, 6 maps
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6 x 9
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© 1991
This is the first volume of a projected three-volume work on the little-known South Indian folk cult of the goddess Draupadi and on the classical epic, the Mahabharata, that the cult brings to life in mythic, ritual, and dramatic forms. Draupadi, the chief heroine of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, takes on many unexpected guises in her Tamil cult, but her dimensions as a folk goddess remain rooted in a rich interpretive vision of the great epic. By examining the ways that the cult of Draupadi commingles traditions about the goddess and the epic, Alf Hiltebeitel shows the cult to be singularly representative of the inner tensions and working dynamics of popular devotional Hinduism.
Contents
List of Maps and Figures
List of Plates
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Conventions
1. Introduction
2. Draupadi Temples and Their Ritual Officiants
3. The Ritual Cycle and the Temple Icons
4. Offering Souls
5. Flag Hoisting and Tying of Kappu
6. Posts, Altars, and Demon Devotees
7. Rituals of Battle
8. Patukalam Configurations: Arjuna's Artifacts
9. Aravan's Battlefield Sacrifice to Kali
10. Patukalam Sequences
11. Death and Revival
12. Thighs and Hair
13. Effigies and Forts
14. Timiti, the Firewalk
15. Closures
Appendix
Abbreviations
Bibliography
General Index
Index of Temple and Festival Sites
List of Plates
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Conventions
1. Introduction
2. Draupadi Temples and Their Ritual Officiants
3. The Ritual Cycle and the Temple Icons
4. Offering Souls
5. Flag Hoisting and Tying of Kappu
6. Posts, Altars, and Demon Devotees
7. Rituals of Battle
8. Patukalam Configurations: Arjuna's Artifacts
9. Aravan's Battlefield Sacrifice to Kali
10. Patukalam Sequences
11. Death and Revival
12. Thighs and Hair
13. Effigies and Forts
14. Timiti, the Firewalk
15. Closures
Appendix
Abbreviations
Bibliography
General Index
Index of Temple and Festival Sites
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Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology
Asian Studies: South Asia
Religion: Comparative Studies and History of Religion | South and East Asian Religions
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