Making Virtuous Daughters and Wives: An Introduction to Women's Brata Rituals in Bengali Folk Religion

McDaniel, June

ISBN 10: 0791455661 / ISBN 13: 9780791455661

Published by State University of New York Pre, 2002

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0003698966

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Making Virtuous Daughters and Wives: An Introduction to Women's Brata Rituals in Bengali Folk Religion
• Publisher: State University of New York Pre
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791455661
• ISBN 13: 9780791455661
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

An exploration of Hindu women's folk religion focusing on goddess worship and women's rituals.

Exploring the folk religion of India and the role of girls and women within it, author June McDaniel focuses on the brata (vrata) ritual in which moral lessons are taught and goddesses are revealed. Bratas are performed to gain such goals as a healthy family, a good husband, and a happy life. They are also performed so that the performers (bratinis) develop such virtues as devotion, humility, and compassion.This book presents data from fieldwork, along with brata stories, songs, poems, and ritual activities. It discusses Bengali folk religion, offers an example of ritual worship in folk Hinduism, and surveys a variety of bratas. The author analyzes the similarities and differences among these rituals in low-caste village life and in high-caste Hindu tradition, and notes that the development of these rituals involves a form of continuing divine revelation with women as the primary transmitters. Bratas act to maintain traditional Hindu values, but also emphasize the power of women, whose virtues can save their husbands from hell worlds and their families from disasters.

About the Author

June McDaniel is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies and Director of the Religious Studies Program at the College of Charleston. She is the author of The Madness of the Saints: Ecstatic Religion in Bengal.