The Cult of Draupadi

This is the first volume of a projected three-volume work on the little-known South Indian folk cult of the goddess Draupadi and on the classical epic, the "Mahabharata," that the cult brings to life in mythic, ritual, and dramatic forms. Draupadi, the chief heroine of the Sanskrit "Mahabharata," takes on many unexpected guises in her Tamil cult, but her dimensions as a folk goddess remain rooted in a rich interpretive vision of the great epic. By examining the ways that the cult of Draupadi commingles traditions about the goddess and the epic, Alf Hiltebeitel shows the cult to be singularly representative of the inner tensions and working dynamics of popular devotional Hinduism.

Product details

• Authors: Alf Hiltebeitel, Hiltebeitel Alf
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.03.1988
• EAN: 9780226340463
• ISBN: 978-0-226-34046-3
• No. of pages: 520
• Illustrations: 48ill.5M.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > General, dictionaries; Asia, RELIGION / History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, RELIGION / Hinduism / General, History of Religion, Folklore, myths & legends, Tribal religions, Indigenous, ethnic and folk religions and spiritual beliefs, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology), RELIGION / Folk & Tribal, Folklore studies / Study of myth