The ritual of Ṣaṣṭhī with her cat, as is prevalent in Bengal, is not a very ancient custom. The reference to Padma-Purāṇa does not help as it is of late origin. One may consult D.P.Chattopadhyaya’s Lokāyata (1959). Chattopadhyay has a full thesis and whether that is correct or not may of course be debated. He considered the deity’s getting place in the pantheon to be a substratum effect like that of many other customs. Chattopadhyay has expressed similar view about the effect of Druid or Celtic culture in Western Europe.

Best

DB



On Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 12:23 PM, Mary Storm <mnstorm@mac.com> wrote:
You have probably seen these, but just in case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashthi

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/d4/dc/a9/d4dca99836a0da3926906d3986912200.jpg

Mary Storm


On 15-Mar-2014, at 10:22 pm, Valerie J Roebuck <vjroebuck@btinternet.com> wrote:

Speaking of vāhanas, can anyone point me to a painting - or even a sculpture - of Ṣaṣṭhī Devī with her cat? I have found some nice Kalighat paintings, but nothing earlier. 

Valerie J Roebuck

On 15 Mar 2014, at 16:08, rajam <rajam@earthlink.net> wrote:

Many thanks to everyone for the information! As I confessed at the outset, I don’t know much about these things; and, many traditional scholars (of Sanskrit & Tamil & religion) in South India are not in touch with ‘modernism!' So much for our generation gap!

One way to preempt controversy and confusion would be to refer to the source of the art work with acknowledgement. 

Regards,
Rajam


On Mar 15, 2014, at 8:54 AM, Artur Karp <karp@uw.edu.pl> wrote:



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Artur Karp <karp@uw.edu.pl>
Date: 2014-03-15 16:53 GMT+01:00
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] (no subject)
To: rajam <rajam@earthlink.net>




2014-03-15 15:58 GMT+01:00 rajam <rajam@earthlink.net>:

I do not know much about these things, but received a comment from a friend in India that "the Chinnamasta Devi does not have a lion for her vehicle.”

May I know the source of the picture on the cover, so I can write to him and clear his doubt? (He is not a member of this group.)

Thanks,
Rajam


On Mar 15, 2014, at 5:15 AM, Stella Sandahl <ssandahl@sympatico.ca> wrote:

Congratulations! Cover picture wonderful. 
Hope your book will not offend anybody's religious or other feelings.
Stella Sandahl
--
Stella Sandahl

On 2014-03-15, at 12:14 AM, Mary Storm wrote:

Dear Indologists

As Etta James, sang “At Last…”

I am happy to announce the publication of my book Head and Heart: Self-Sacrifice in the Art of India, published by Routledge in August 2013.

My thanks to all of you who offered help and support over the years.

Mary Storm

Mary Storm, Ph.D.
Academic Director
India: National Identity and the Arts
and
Himalayan Buddhist Art and Architecture
F 301 Lado Sarai
New Delhi


artBuy Head and Heart : Valour and Self Sacrifice in the Art of India: Book
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