TY  - BOOK
AU  - Ramos,Imma
TI  - Pilgrimage and politics in colonial Bengal: the myth of the goddess Sati 
SN  - 9781472489449
U1  - 294.535095414 23
PY  - 2017///
CY  - London
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
KW  - Hindu shrines
KW  - Political aspects
KW  - India
KW  - Bengal
KW  - Hinduism and politics
KW  - History
KW  - 19th century
KW  - Śakti (Hindu deity)
KW  - Nationalism and art
KW  - Nationalism
KW  - LCSH
KW  - Manners and customs
KW  - Bengal (India)
KW  - fast
N1  - "An Ashgate book"--Cover; Based on author's thesis (doctoral--University of Cambridge, 2015) under the title: Give me, give me my Sati! the myth of the Shakti Pithas in colonial Bengal; Includes bibliographical references (pages 112-121) and index; Introduction -- Kalighat souvenirs and the creation of Sati's iconography -- Kamakhya's erotic-apotropaic potency and the forging of sacred geography -- Tantra's revolutionary potential: Tarapith and Bamakhepa's visualisation of Tara -- Contesting the colonial gaze: image worship debates in nineteenth-century Bengal -- Conclusion
N2  - 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
ER  -