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Reciting the Goddess
Narratives of Place and the Making of Hinduism in Nepal
By (author)
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz
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Synopsis
Reciting the Goddess is the first book-length study of Nepal's goddess Svasthani and the popular Svasthanivratakatha textual tradition. In the centuries following its origin as a simple local legend in the sixteenth century, the Svasthanivratakatha developed into a comprehensive Purana text that is still widely celebrated today among Nepal's Hindus with an annual month-long recitation. Jessica Birkenholtz uses the Svasthanivratakatha as a medium through which to view the ways in which political and cultural shifts among Nepal's ruling elite were taken up by the general public.
Drawing on both archival and ethnographic research, the book examines Svasthani and the Svasthanivratakatha within the shifting literary, linguistic, religious, cultural, and political contexts of medieval and modern Nepal from the sixteenth century to the present. It also explores both the complementary and contentious relationships between Nepal's heterogeneous Newar Hindu and high-caste hill Hindu communities, and those of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom vis-a-vis Hindu India. Reciting the Goddess brings the Svasthani devotional tradition to light as a new case study in the discussion of the making of Hindu religious identity and practice in Nepal and South Asia. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
a novel perspective...a brilliant and recommended read on non-Indian, local Hindu traditions and is a pioneer in Nepalese Hindu scholarship. * Alisha Saikia, Religious Studies Review * I have no criticisms of this book, just awe for the magnitude of the work involved!... And now, as of 2018, the goddess is made known in an insightful, beautifully written scholarly book that widens her reach to those outside her place. As one of those people, I am most grateful to Jessica Vatine Birkenholtz. * Rachel McDermott, Barnard College * Overall, this is a well-written and well-researched volume that offers much to those interested in Nepali Hinduism, the Hindu goddess tradition, ritual studies, and the sociocultural dynamics of a staunchly Hindu Nepal. While Birkenholtz thoroughly explains and contextualizes her arguments, this work is best suited for those familiar with the goddess traditions of the Bhakti movement and their manifestations across the Hindu diaspora. * Ajay Dave, The University of Texas at Dallas, Journal of Dharma Studies * a well-written and well-researched volume that offers much to those interested in Nepali Hinduism, the Hindu goddess tradition, ritual studies, and the sociocultural dynamics of a staunchly Hindu Nepal. * Ajay Dave, Journal of Dharma Studies * Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz presents the first critical study of the Svasth=an=ivratakath=a (SVK), the textual tradition of the Hindu goddess Svasth=an=i. Birkenholtz provides both a textual-historical as well as an ethnographic study, encompassing the many faces of one of the most popular religious traditions in Nepal This careful critical study deserves all the attention it can get. * Dolores Zo'e Bertschinger, Reading Religion * This thoroughly documented and expansive book is a brilliant and recommended read on non-Indian, local Hindu traditions and is a pioneer in Nepalese Hindu scholarship. * Alisha Saikia, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review *