The Pre-Saiva Mahakala of Ujjayini
Ujjayini, one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage sites, is widely known as Siva’s city. The great deity of the famous Mahakala temple has been worshipped as its main patron until the present day. However, Phyllis Granoff has demonstrated that some early sources such as the Harivamsa (112.125-26)...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox
2021
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| In: |
Religions of South Asia
Year: 2021, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Pages: 89-104 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ujjain
/ Mahākāla
/ Cult
/ Rise of
/ Śaivism
/ Jainism
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism |
| Further subjects: | B
Ujjayinī
B Mahākāla B Kālaka B Kārtavīrya Arjuna B Sūrya B Bāṇa |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Ujjayini, one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage sites, is widely known as Siva’s city. The great deity of the famous Mahakala temple has been worshipped as its main patron until the present day. However, Phyllis Granoff has demonstrated that some early sources such as the Harivamsa (112.125-26) as well as the Brhatkathaslokasamgraha (1.4.) regard Mahakala as Siva’s gana, and therefore she concluded that Mahakala was originally a local god whom the Saivas step by step adopted at first as Siva’s gana, then as the hypostasis of the great deity himself. This article attempts to develop further Granoff’s hypothesis and tries to reconstruct, as far as possible, the figure of the so-called pre-Saiva Mahakala . In this way, it analyses the myths of the region, such as the Jaina tale of Kalaka, the Bana legends as well as the Kartavirya legends, and searches for common motives which may help to define the main characteristics of the local cult before Saivism became dominant. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-2697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions of South Asia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/rosa.20910 |