The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu GoddessThis book combines systematic textual study with descriptive fieldwork to explore the relationship between the human and the divine in Hindu life. For at least the past two hundred years, Hindus in southern India have celebrated the marriage of the goddess Mīnākshī to the Hindu god Śiva. This annual ten-day celebration is among the largest and most famous Hindu festivals, attracting hundreds of thousands of the faithful each year. This work examines this important ritual event from a variety of perspectives, including the history of religions, Sanskrit and Tamil textual traditions, and Hindu culture. Moving beyond traditional understandings of the category of 'sacred marriage' derived from studies of the ancient Near East, the author reveals that sacred marriage in India functions as a devotional metaphor for Hindu devotees, a way of understanding how deities act toward one another and toward those who worship them. |
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Contents
| 1 | |
Sacred Marriage as a Category 1 Metaphors and Their Uses 4 Sacred | 17 |
The Text as Revelation Theology and History 22 The Document in | 39 |
The Birth and Reign of the GoddessQueen Minaksi 44 The Marriage | 51 |
58 Motifs of the Madurai Marriage and the PanIndian Sanskrit Tradition | 60 |
Initial Con | 97 |
Marriage as an Antidote to Sacrifice 112 Women as GoddessesGoddesses | 126 |
130 Marriage as Soteriological Act 134 The Order Marriage Brings | 135 |
Kinship Terms in Personal Devotion | 142 |
Devotion as Financial Contract 143 Devotion as Kinship Alliance 146 Sus | 163 |
Selected Sanskrit Names and Terms and Their Tamil | 197 |
| 209 | |
| 227 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Alakar Alakarkovil alliance appears ascetic beautiful becomes Brahma Brahmin bride brothers-in-law caste celebrated celestials Chapter chariots Citra Festival city of Madurai context cross-cousin daughter deities devotees divine elephant episode father female flowers garlands goddess gods golden graciously hair Himavat Hindu Hinduism holy human husband in-law Inden Indra involved Jains jewels king's kinship terms Krsna lineage liriga literary Lord Maci Street Madurai area Madurai temple Malayadhvaja male Mariyamman marry metaphor Minaksi Minaksi and Siva moon mother Murukan mythology Nandin occurs Pandya kingdom Pandya kings Parvati pavilion place-history poet priests procession Purana regarded relationship religious riage role royal rudras sacred marriage sacrifice sages Saiva Saivas and Vaisnavas samskdra Sanskrit sense shrine Siva and Minaksi Siva and Visnu Siva's Sacred Games snake son-in-law southern India spouse story Sundaresvara Tamil Tamil literature Tatatakai tion tradition transformed Ugra Vaigai River Vaisnava Varuna Vedas Visnu wedding wife Wish-granting woman women worship
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess Religion in Asia and Africa series |
| Author | William P. Harman |
| Editor | William P. Harman |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1992 |
| ISBN | 812080810X, 9788120808102 |
| Length | 232 pages |
| Subjects | › Religion / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |