1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465648703321

Autore

Flueckiger Joyce Burkhalter

Titolo

When the world becomes female [[electronic resource] ] : guises of a South Indian goddess / / Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Bloomington, : Indiana University Press, c2013

ISBN

0-253-00960-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (334 p.)

Disciplina

294.5/2114

Soggetti

Gangamma (Hindu deity) - Cult - India - Tirupati

Worship (Hinduism)

Electronic books.

Tirupati (India) Religion

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; CONTENTS; PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION; Introduction; Part One. Imaginative Worlds of Gangamma; 1. An Aesthetics of Excess; 2. Guising, Transformation, Recognition, and Possibility; 3. Narratives of Excess and Access; 4. Female-Narrated Possibilities of Relationship; 5. Gangamma as Ganga River Goddess; Part Two. Those Who Bear the Goddess; 6. Wandering Goddess, Village Daughter: Avilala Reddys; 7. Temple and Vesham Mirasi: The Kaikalas of Tirupati; 8. The Goddess Served and Lost: Tatayyagunta Mudaliars

9. Exchanging Talis with the Goddess: Protection and Freedom to Move10. "Crazy for the Goddess": A Consuming Relationship; Conclusion: Possibilities of a World Become Female; GLOSSARY; NOTES; REFERENCES; INDEX; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y

Sommario/riassunto

During the goddess Gangamma's festival in the town of Tirupati, lower-caste men take guises of the goddess, and the streets are filled with men wearing saris, braids, and female jewelry. By contrast, women participate by intensifying the rituals they perform for Gangamma throughout the year, such as cooking and offering food. Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger argues that within the festival ultimate reality is



imagined as female and women identify with the goddess, whose power they share. Vivid accounts by male and female participants offer new insights into Gangamma's traditions and the nature o