Hindu Goddesses/ Beliefs and Practices
Foulston Lynn
- 1st
- Great Bretain: Sunsex Academic Press, 2009.
- 292
Parti Beliefs Sakti - The Divine Feminine A conceptual understanding of sakti The goddess's associations with maya Tind prakrti Sakti manifested as the Mahadevi or Great Goddess Pan-Indian goddesses as personifications of sakti Essentially benign goddesses Sri-Laksmi (Goddess of Fortune) Sarasvati (The Flowing One) Parvati (She who is Born of a Mountain) Essentially fierce goddesses Durga (The One who is Beyond Reach) Kali (The Black One: The Power of Time) Local goddesses as personifications of sakti Goddesses in Textual Sources Goddesses in the Vedas Usas (Dawn) Aditi (Mother of the gods) Prthivi (Earth) Ratri (Night) Vac/Vak (Speech) Indrani (Indra's wife) Nirrti (Destruction, Disorder) Goddesses in the Mahahharata The mortal form of Ganga The creation of Mrytu (Death) The worship of Durga The goddess Kala-ratri (Death-night) in the Sauptikaparvan Goddesses in the Devi-Mahatmya Goddesses in the Sakta Puranas The Kalika Purana The Devi'Bhagavatam Purana Goddess Mythology Brahmanical mythology The descent of Ganga The churning of the milk ocean The destruction of Daksa's sacrifice and the immolation of Sati Local mythology Origin mythology Renuka myths The origin of smallpox in south India Mythology that validates local goddesses Mythology that localizes pan-Indian goddesses Goddesses originating from humans Sati Tantrism and Hindu Goddesses Defining Tantrism The historical development of Tantrism and Saktism Tantric goddesses The Matrkas (Mothers) The Saptamatrkas (Seven Mothers) Yoginis The Ten Mahavidyas A Tantric Sakta tradition - Sri Vidya Part II Practices Goddess Worship Orthodox or Pan-Indian worship of the goddess Temple worship Home worship Abhiseka: ritual bathing and decoration of the goddess Bengali devotional hhakti Ramakrishna - Kali's ultimate devotee Local worship of the goddess Snake worship Tantric worship of the goddess Nitya-Puja Kundalini Yoga Use of the panca-makaras Cremation ground rituals Goddess Festivals Orthodox goddess festivals Durga Puja Festival proceedings Laksmi Puja Kali Puja The festival Procession Local goddess festivals Mariyamman festivals and fire walking A local festival in Orissa The importance of possession in local festivals Pilgrimage to the Temples of the Goddess The importance of the River Ganges The Sakta pithas Important goddess temples Kamarupa, abode of the goddess Kamakhya The goddess Vaisno Devi in Jammu Kalighat in Bengal Minaksi, the fish-eyed goddess of Madurai Kanyakumari, the eternal virgin of Tamilnadu The Goddess in Contemporary Hinduism Bharat Mata - Mother India Vande Mataram Bharat Mata and Hindu Nationalism Santosi Ma - Mother of Satisfaction Early knowledge of Santosi Ma The importance of Jai Santosi Maa Present-day worship of Santosi Ma More new goddesses? AIDS-amma Manushi Swachha Narayani The Raj Kumari of Nepal - A living goddess: But for how long? Kumari worship in Hinduism Selection of the Raj Kumari