Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees: Essays on the Guardians of Popular Hinduism

Title: Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees: Essays on the Guardians of Popular Hinduism
Author: Alf Hiltebeitel
ISBN: 0887069827
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1989
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Edition: F First Edition
Condition Note: Excellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Religion & Spirituality: 1693160
Section: Religion | Hinduism | General
Publisher Description:

The Hindu sacred order is guarded by the very gods who violate it and the demons who oppose it. This book is a who's who of such transgressive figures, both familiar and unfamiliar, showing their place within the Hindu order that they violate. It is also a reflection of the serious scholarly debate over the nature and composition of this Hindu order.

The chapters range from pan-Hindu deities such as Bhairava and Virabhadra to guardian gods of specific regions and lineages and of different goddess cults. Chapters cover violent themes in SAaivite hagiography, the position of Brahmans in relation to cultic carnivorism, guardian heroes in folk epic, the deified dead, the royal mythology of a "criminal caste," and a wide-ranging overview of transgressive sacrality.