Sakti Cult in Orissa

by Francesco Brighenti

It is the first, all-encompassing study, in an ethono-historical perspective, exploring the multi-linear evolution of Sakti worship in Orissa: from the pre-/ proto-historical times to the late medieval epoch, and even its continuity into the modern period--with contextual focus on its probable genesis, historical development, festivals, ritualistic patterns, and cultural sources including myths, legends and folklore. The book also incorporates, besides a description of important Sakta centres in Orissa, a study of the Divine Mother's iconographic features in Her multifarious manifestations.Together with around hundred illustrations highlighting the varied representations of Sakti in sculpture, this study will interest not only the scholars of archaeology, history and religion, but historians of art as well.

About the Author:

As a member of the Venetian Academy of Indian Studies, Dr. FRANCESCO BRIGHENTI is presently researching upon the religious cults practised by different tribes of Orissa, like the Hill Saoras and the Kondhs, and their relation to the regional typologies of Hindu cults.