Nine Nights of the Goddess

Caleb Simmons is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Arizona. Moumita Sen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway. Hillary Rodrigues is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Canada. His books include Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of the Durgā Pūjā with Interpretations, also published by SUNY Press.

• List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction: Movements of Navarātri Caleb Simmons and Moumita Sen Navarātri in the Court 1. The Splendor of the Sun: Brightening the Bridge between Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and Devī Māhātmya in Light of Navarātra Ritual Timing Raj Balkaran 2. Which Durgā? What avarātra? Remarks on Reconfigurations of Royal Rituals in the Kathmandu Valley Astrid Zotter 3. The King and the Yadu Line: Performing Lineage through Dasara in Nineteenth-Century Mysore Caleb Simmons 4. Dasara and the Selective Decline of Sacrificial Polity in a Former Princely State of Odisha Uwe Skoda Navarātri on Display 5. Politics, Religion, and Art in the Durgā Pūjā of West Bengal Moumita Sen 6. Durgā Pūjā Committees: Community Origin and Transformed Mediatized Practices Employing Social Media Xenia Zeiler 7. Navarātri in Benares: Narrative Structures and Social Realities Silje Lyngar Einarsen 8. Dolls and Demons: The Materiality of Navarātri Ina Marie Lunde Ilkama 9. Ritual Complementarity and Difference: Navarātri and Vijayadaśamī in KāñcipuramUte HüskenNavarātri Inside 10. Bengali Durgā Pūjā: Procedures and Symbolism Hillary Rodrigues 11. The Internal Navarātri: Sarkar baba of Benares and the Goddess Within Jishnu Shankar Navarātri at Home 12. Kolus, Caste and Class: Navarātri as a Site for Ritual and Social Change in Urban South India Nicole A. Wilson 13. Display Shows, Display Tells: The Aesthetics of Memory during Pommai Kolu Deeksha Sivakumar 14. Royal Darbār and Domestic Kolus: Social order, Creation, Procreation, and Re-creation Vasudha Narayanan 15. Navarātra and Kanyā Pūjā: The Worship of Girls as Representatives of the Goddess in Northwest India Brigitte Luchesi Conclusion Hillary Rodrigues ContributorsIndex

"…Nine Nights is credible research on the nine auspicious nights of the Navarātri. The narrative of the authors and their experiences in conducting the research make the book an engaging text. It is an informative read for those inquisitive about the festival's textual sources and the ways of practicing the festival that may or may not reflect the textual descriptions, making the book a valuable contribution to the existing literature on tradition of Hindu festivals." — Reading Religion"…Nine Nights of the Goddess is a masterfully edited and handsomely produced collection of studies of outstanding scholarship on a very popular Hindu religious festival … This is undoubtedly a scholarly magnum opus on the Magna Mater of Hindu South Asia." — Nidān"This is a unique collection of marvelously diverse perspectives on one of the most prominent contemporary Hindu festivals. Even those who know much about Durgā Pūjā should prepare to be fascinated by the work of these scholars." — Patricia Dold, Memorial University