A book based on lectures of Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik, written by Seema Mohanty Illustrated by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik One of the most unconventional yet immensely popular deities in the Hindu pantheon, goddess Kali essentially represents the dark and contrary aspects of the cosmos. Her naked form and association with violence, blood and gore challenge the very concept of divinity. Yet, over the centuries, she has come to represent a whole gamut of conflicting images—from bloodthirsty ogress to benign goddess.
So today while she is venerated as Chamunda, a deity who verges on the macabre and grotesque, she is also adored in household shrines in one of her milder forms, Dakshina-Kali. It is this evolution of Kali—from her origin as a tantric goddess to her metamorphosis into a divinity in mainstream religion—that Seema Mohanty captures brilliantly in this book.
Drawing upon a variety of sources—rituals associated with the worship of Kali, tales from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Tantras and Agamas, folklore and films—she has succeeded in portraying in engrossing detail the myriad manifestations of the enigmatic deity that is Kali.
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Usha Bande
I could find publication details of one book only — The pregnanat king. Who has published other titles/ What are these priced at?
usha bande
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Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Do check “Books” link on Homepage ….most books are available at Crossroads…
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Feb 21, 2009 @ 10:12 am
Netal Vegada
I live in Holland, and I’ve been looking everywhere to find this book or a way to order it online, but there seem to be no websites that sell it. Where could I find it?
Thank you,
Netal Vegada
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Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Do check the Penguin books site (India)….they have an e-commerce site, I think, which can do the needful…..
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Mar 07, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
Aditya
I have just finished reading your extremely interesting mythology-based fiction, The Pregnant King. Despite being an atheist, I have retained my interest and knowledge in Hindu mythology, and I do intend to read many of your other books.
I haven’t read your book on Kali yet, but I wonder whether you have heard of (or explore in this book) the claim by the famous physician of Bengal Dr Mahendralal Sarkar (also the physician of Ramakrishna as well as the founder of the Indian Association of Cultivation of Science) that the cult of Kali was based on a Santhal girl. This claim was made by him several times, the most notorious of them being at a speech on Kali by Sister Nivedita.
Another unrelated question– something I should have posted in your Jaya/Mahabharata page: in her excellent and extremely interesting set of essays (and a short mythology based fiction), “Yuganta”, the famous sociologist, Irawati Karve hints twice that Krishna and Arjuna had a homoerotic relationship. I wonder whether you have come across this before, or have commented on this in any of your works, or intend to in future (might of course be dangerous in today’s intolerant world– in fact considering that this is a public forum, please feel free to edit out this part of the post if necessary).
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Aug 13, 2010 @ 7:58 am