Binding: Paperback
Description: Ma Anandamayi is generally regarded as the most important Hindu woman saint of the twentieth century. Venerated alternately as a guru and as an incarnation of God on earth Ma had hundreds of thousands of devotees. Through the creation of a religious movement and a vast network of ashramsunprecedented for a woman Ma presented herself as an authority figure in a society where female gurus were not often recognized. Because of her widespread influence Ma is one of the rare Hindu saints whose cult has outlived her. Today her tomb is a place of veneration for those who knew her as well as new generations of her followers. By performing extensive fieldwork among Ma's current devotees Orianne Aymard examines what happens to a cult after the death of its leader. Does it decline stagnate or grow? Or is it rather transformed into something else entirely? Aymard's work sheds new light not only on Hindu sainthoodand particularly female Hindu sainthoodbut on the nature of charismatic religious leadership and devotion.
Title: When A Goddess Dies Worshipping Ma Anandamayi After Her Death
Author(s): Aymard Orianne (Visiting Scholar At South Asia Institute Columbia University; Research Associate At Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Harvard University; Research Affiliate At Centre D'etudes Et De Recherche Sur L'inde Visiting Scholar At South Asia Institute Columbia University; Research Associate At Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Harvard University; Research Affiliate At Centre D'etudes Et
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780199368624
Pages: 368 Pages, 28 Illus.
Publication Date: 6/2/2014
Category: Hinduism