Book
The play of the gods: locality, ideology, structure, and time in the festivals of a Bengali town
University of Chicago Press • Chicago • Published In 1980 • Pages:
By: Östör, Ákos.
Abstract
Religious festivals (PUJA) are the main focus of this study. The author analyzes these festivals, examining in great detail in the process their performances, ideologies, and exegeses. For this study Öskör concentrates his attention on the festival of the Goddess Durga, the Durgapuja. (The Goddess Durga and Lord Siva are prominent deities in Hinduism and play very important roles in Bengali religious festivals). The source is divided into four main parts or chapters. Chapter 1 provides the reader with an introduction to the author's methodology and a general background discussion on Hindu religion and its relationship to the festivals of Durga and Siva, in fact, myth, and legend. Chapter 2 is much more specific, narrating the action and ideologies connected with Durgapuja. Here the author employes some of the basic tenets of Victor Turner's studies on Ndembu symbolism to an analysis of the symbolism in the religious festivals. This same type of analysis is also applied in Chapter 3, in Öskör's discussion of the Festival of the Lord Siva (Siva's GAJAN). In the final part of this work, Chapter 4, which is basically a summary of the previous material in the source, the author undertakes the task of analysis and interpretation of his data, combining both structural and cultural approaches in the process (p. 15). This chapter also takes into consideration the structural position of the Malla king in the development of the system of festivals and rituals. (These were the Malla kings of the ancient kingdom of Mallabhum which incorporates the present location of Vishnupur). The fieldwork for this study was carried out in the town of Vishnupar, West Bengal, during the period of 1967 to 1969.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2002
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- South Asia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 1992
- Field Date
- 1967-1969 [p. ix]
- Coverage Date
- not specified
- Coverage Place
- Vishnupur, West Bengal, India
- Notes
- Ákos Östör
- A revision of the author's thesis, University of Chicago, 1971
- Includes index. Bibliography: p. [231]-236
- LCCN
- 79025661
- LCSH
- Bengalis