One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture
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One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture Editors Guy Stroumsa David Shulman Hebrew University of Jerusalem Department of Comparative Religion VOLUME 18 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jsrc One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology by Don Handelman LEIDEn • bOSTON 2014 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Handelman, Don. One god, two goddesses, three studies of South Indian cosmology / by Don Handelman. pages cm. — (Jerusalem studies in religion and culture, ISSN 1570-078X ; volume 18) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25615-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-25739-9 (e-book : alk. paper) 1. Hinduism—India, South—Rituals. 2. Murugan (Hindu deity)—Cult. 3. Hindu goddesses— India, South. 4. Hindu cosmology. I. Title. BL1226.2.H36 2013 294.5’211—dc23 2013026797 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1570-078x ISBN 978-90-04-25615-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-25739-9 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. In memory of the late Galina Lindquist who had the gift of true sight CONTENTS List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... xi Contributors ..................................................................................................... xiii Preface ................................................................................................................ xv 1. The Cosmic Vortex and Don Handelman’s Anthropological Vision: A Personal View ........................................................................... 1 Bruce Kapferer 2. Myths of Murugan: Asymmetry and Hierarchy in a South Indian Puranic Cosmology ..................................................................... 23 Don Handelman From Fragmentation to Encompassment: The Asymmetry of Shiva .................................................................................................... 27 The Death of Kama: Asceticism Ascendant and the Nadir of Shakti ................................................................................................... 27 The Creation: A Chain Reaction of Fragmentation ................... 29 The Asura Wars: The Assimilation of Shakti and the Encompassment of Cosmos ......................................................... 32 The Asuras: The Asymmetry of Shakti ........................................... 38 The Birth of the Asuras: Seduction and Illusion ......................... 38 The Education of the Asuras: The Value of Materialist Reality .................................................................................................... 40 The Incorporation of Evil ................................................................... 42 From Encompassment to Immanence .......................................... 44 Shakti and the Devolution of the Divine ...................................... 46 Iconography, Reflexivity, and Shakti .............................................. 48 Encompassment and Immanence: Acting in the World .......... 54 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 58 3. The Guises of the Goddess and the Transformation of the Male: Gangamma’s Visit to Tirupati, and the Continuum of Gender ... 63 Don Handelman Gangamma in Tirupati ....................................................................... 65 Gangamma’s Story ................................................................................ 68 Gangamma Comes Home .................................................................. 69 viii contents The Goddess Disguised ....................................................................... 72 Gangamma’s Feet ................................................................................. 83 The Goddess Revealed ........................................................................ 84 Multitudes of Gangamma .................................................................. 91 Gangamma Meets Gangamma and Transcends Herself .......... 92 Gender, Cosmos, Caste ....................................................................... 98 .Bibliography ........................................................................................... 111 4. Growing a Kingdom: The Goddess of Depth in Vizianagaram ... 115 Don Handelman, M. V. Krishnayya and David Shulman Prologue: Every King Needs a Goddess. On the Curved and the Flat, Wilderness and Civilization ........................................ 116 The Birth of Paiditalli .......................................................................... 124 Historical Excursus .............................................................................. 131 Goddesses are Grown (Gods are Not) ........................................... 135 The (Re)Birth of Paiditalli: The Ritual of Devara Pandaga ..... 142 The Growing of Rice ............................................................................ 158 Pot-Paiditalli Furrows and Sows ...................................................... 162 The Tevadam Rite: Bringing the Sprouting Goddess Out of the Earth ............................................................................................. 166 .Nearing the Sirimanu: Ratham, Swing, and Tolellu— the First Furrow ............................................................................... 172 The Sirimanu Jatra ............................................................................... 190 Uyyala Kambalu—Swinging Away to the Wilderness .............. 201 Concluding Thoughts .......................................................................... 204 Index ................................................................................................................... 215 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Murugan, south Indian bronze, c. 16th century ............................ 24 2. Tatayyagunta Gangamma Adorned ( Joyce Flueckiger) .............. 67 3. Veshalamma (Don Handelman) ......................................................... 75 4. Ruffian Guise, Female Ruffian beside Him (Don Handelman) ................................................................................... 76 5. Gollas Arriving at Veshalamma (Don Handelman) ..................... 76 6. Female Sweeper Swatting Heads (Don Handelman) ................... 78 7. Dora and Minister Received Outside Home ( Joyce Flueckiger) ................................................................................... 81 8. Prince and Minister with Head of Palegadu (Don Handelman) ................................................................................... 82 9. Youngsters Beating Tatayyagunta Gangamma’s Feet (Don Handelman) ................................................................................... 85 10. Tatayyagunta Gangamma’s Feet (Don Handelman) .................... 85 11. Matangi: Home Visit (David Shulman) ............................................ 87 12. World Turning Female (Don Handelman) ...................................... 93 13. Composing Big Goddess at Talapaka Gangamma Temple (David Shulman) .................................................................................... 96 14. Perantalu ( Joyce Flueckiger) ............................................................... 97 15..Bairagi Nayudu (David Shulman) ....................................................... 125 16. Paiditalli Pots in Goddess Place, Night Preceding Devara Pandaga (David Shulman) .................................................................... 148 17. Awaiting the Birth: The Jangidi at the Big Lake (David Shulman) ...................................................................................... 152 18. Hugging Tree Paiditalli (David Shulman) ........................................ 168 19. Worshiping Tree Paiditalli in the Street (Boaz Amichay) .......... 171 20. Sirimanu Model in Bairagi Nayudu’s Courtyard (David Shulman) ...................................................................................... 175 21. Tolellu: Five-Metal Pot on its Way to the Fort (David Shulman) ...................................................................................... 182 22. Pots Moving to the Fort, Tolellu (David Shulman) ....................... 183 23. Transporting Tree Paiditalli to Square Temple (David Shulman) ...................................................................................... 192 24..Bairagi