When a Goddess Dies

ISBN-13: 9780199368617 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 368 str.

Orianne Aymard

Opis

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 ashrams-unprecedented 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 sainthood-and particularly female Hindu sainthood-but on the nature of charismatic religious leadership and devotion.

Recenzje

Orianne Aymard s study of the cult of Sri Anandamayi Ma is among the best works to date on the fate of contemporary post-charismatic religious movements. Through interviews with Ma s devotees, Aymard illustrates the fundamental Hindu belief in the presence of a saint after his or her death. She also describes the perils inherent in the institutionalization of the saint s charisma by her surviving devotees. A tour de force!

O autorze

Orianne Aymard is Visiting Scholar at the South Asia Institute of Columbia University.