Sakta Contribution to Varanasi

Contents: Preface. 1. Kasi and Sakta contribution--an introduction/Vidyanivas Mishra. 2. Kasi as Saktipitha/Kamla Pandey. 3. Fasts and festivals of Goddess in Varanasi/B.S. Mehta. 4. Devi-Yantra in Kasi/Pramod Giri. 5. Sakti images from Varanasi: a case study of Bharat Kala Bhawan sculptures/T.K. Biswas. 6. Sakti figures in the Sarnath Museum/R.C. Sharma. 7. Devi in the wall painting art of Kasi/Kamal Giri. 8. Images of Jaina Goddesses in Kasi/M.N.P. Tiwari. 9. Sakti in the folk songs of Kasi/Kusum Giri. 10. Chief Sakta exponents of Kasi/H.N. Chakravarty. 11. Some distinctive methods of Sakti worship: family rituals of the Maharashtrians in Kasi/N.P. Joshi. 12. Symbols and Sakti worship/N.C. Panda. 13. Ritual materials in Sakti worship/Sukumar Chattopadhyay. Index.

"The worship of Sakti (Mother Goddess) is almost a universal phenomenon and its manifestation is seen in different forms. Indian contribution has also been laudable and it is amply noticed through the figures of Mother-Goddesses even from the pre-Indus culture. This was followed in the subsequent ages throughout India, and Varanasi being a great religious centre has also left an indelible imprint in this regard.

This book incorporates a good number of papers on multiple aspects of Sakta traditions practised in Varanasi continuing from hoary past to-date. Beside philosophical, religious and cultural leanings the contents expose the iconographic, ritualistic and artistic rendering of the divine mother. Kasi or Varanasi has been a stronghold of religious and spiritual fervour; and several religious sects have contributed to its present texture. Saktism has also been a forceful current in the cultural stream of this holy city. This is evidenced by several Devi temples, Sakti-pithas, yantras, fairs and festivals associated with the worship of Mother-Goddess." (jacket)