Overview

From the late nineteenth century onwards the concept of Mother India assumed political significance in colonial Bengal. Reacting against British rule, Bengali writers and artists gendered the nation in literature and visual culture in order to inspire patriotism amongst the indigenous population. This book will examine the process by which the Hindu goddess Sati rose to sudden prominence as a personification of the subcontinent and an icon of heroic self-sacrifice. According to a myth of cosmic dismemberment, Sati’s body parts were scattered across South Asia and enshrined as Shakti Pithas, or Seats of Power. These sacred sites were re-imagined as the fragmented body of the motherland in crisis that could provide the basis for an emergent territorial consciousness. The most potent sites were located in eastern India, Kalighat and Tarapith in Bengal, and Kamakhya in Assam. By examining Bengali and colonial responses to these temples and the ritual traditions associated with them, including Tantra and image worship, this book will provide the first comprehensive study of this ancient network of pilgrimage sites in an art historical and political context.

Full Product Details

Author:   Imma Ramos
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.430kg
ISBN:  

9781472489449

ISBN 10:   1472489446
Pages:   126
Publication Date:   03 March 2017
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents Introduction A myth of dismemberment Sati and her rise as a patriotic icon The formation of Hindu identity: From cultural to revolutionary nationalism Layout of the book Chapter One Kalighat souvenirs and the creation of Sati’s iconography Sati’s place in the visual rhetoric of motherland Sati’s portrayal in Kalighat pilgrimage souvenirs The invocation and reinvention of Sati The romanticisation of martyrdom Subverting Christian iconography Shiva, asceticism and Bengali masculinity Sati, suttee and the story of Padmini The enduring power of Sati Chapter Two Kamakhya’s erotic-apotropaic potency and the forging of sacred geography Martial and maternal: Kamakhya’s sculptures The promotion of fertility and protection: Kamakhya’s female archers Subversive sexuality: The reception of Kamakhya during the colonial period Colonial mapping versus sacred geography Bengal’s love affair with Kamakhya: Pilgrimage as a nationalist device Chapter Three Tantra’s revolutionary potential: Tarapith and Bamakhepa’s visualisation of Tara Understanding Tara Understanding Tantric ritual through Tara Bamakhepa, Tantra and revolutionary potential Terrifying and benevolent: Visions of Tara The sweetening of death Chapter Four Contesting the colonial gaze: Image worship debates in nineteenth-century Bengal Murtipuja, darshan and rituals of consecration Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj movement ‘Inconsistent with the moral order of the universe’: The Reverend Hastie’s views on murtipuja The backlash: Bengali responses to Hastie The Saligram idol case: Murti and artefact The Attahas and Khirogram Pithas: The charisma of antique murtis Conclusion Epilogue Reviving Sati’s corpse: Mother India tours and Hindutva in the twenty-first century Bibliography

Reviews

“Ramos’ book is a compelling read and an important contribution to our larger understanding of the complex intersections between religion, politics, sacred space, pilgrimage, and national identity. … [This] is an important book that should be of genuine interest to anyone interested in the study of pilgrimage, sacred space, religious nationalism, and modern Indian history.” --Journal of South Asian Studies “Ramos weaves a narrative from the threads of traditional religious practices, shrines, visual culture, and politics into a whole cloth that gives us a better sense of the Bengali imagination undergoing its transformations of modernity in its distinctive way. Highly recommended.” --Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies “This is a fascinating and well-crafted study that dwells substantially in the concrete rather than in the theoretical or the historiographical. … Historians of Indian nationalism, art historians, and scholars of South Asian religion will all learn much from this valuable work.” --International Journal of Hindu Studies

Author Information

Imma Ramos is Curator of the South Asia Collections at the British Museum, UK.

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