Goddess Traditions in India

This book on the Tripurrahasya, a South Indian Sanskrit work which occupies a unique place in the kta literature, is a study of the rvidy and kta traditions in the context of South Indian intellectual history in the late middle ages. Associated with the religious tradition known as rvidy and devoted to the cult of the Goddess Tripur, the text was probably composed between the 13th and the 16th century CE. The analysis of its narrative parts addresses questions about the relationships between Tantric and Puric goddesses. The discussion of its philosophical and theological teachings tackles problems related to the relationships between Skta and aiva traditions. The stylistic devices adopted by the author(s) of the work deal uniquely with doctrinal and ritual elements of the rvidy through the medium of a literary and poetic language. This stylistic peculiarity distinguishes the Tripurrahasya from many other Tantric texts, characterized by a more technical language. The book is intended for researchers in the field of Asian Studies, Indology, Philosophical, Theological or Religious Studies, Hindu Studies, Tantric Studies and South Asian Religion and Philosophy, in particular those interested in kta and aiva philosophic-religious traditions.