Comparison of Two Essays on Goddess Identity

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[...] In Salman Rushdie Interviews: A Sourcebook of His Ideas. Chauhan, Pradyumna ed. Pp.21 - 31. London: Greenwood Press. Dube, Rani Salma Rushdie. In Salman Rushdie Interviews: A Sourcebook of His Ideas. Chauhan, Pradyumna ed. Pp. 7-17. London: Greenwood Press. Glendinning, Victoria A Novelist in the Country of the Mind. In Salman Rushdie Interviews: A Sourcebook of His Ideas. Chauhan, Pradyumna ed. Pp.3- London: Greenwood Press. Goonetilleke, D.C.R.A [...]

[...] Comparison of Two Essays on Goddess Identity The book Seeking Mahādevī: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess, edited by Tracy Pintchman, contains ten essays dealing with the different ways Hindus construe the distinct image of Mahādevī. I will compare two of those essays here and determine their approach and what they add to the study of Goddess identity in Hinduism. The two essays are Usha Menon's “Mahādevī as Mother: The Oriya Vision of Reality” and Elaine Craddock's “Reconstructing the Split Goddess as Śakti in a Tamil Village.” A better understanding of goddesses and Goddess worship can be reached by closely studying these essays. [...]

[...] So although their Goddess protects them, her love is often as painful as her own ‘birth.' As a whole, the volume of Seeking Mahādevī: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess seeks to present different ideas about the complex identity of the Goddess in Hinduism. One article, written by Usha Menon, defines Mahādevī as seen by the Oriya Hindus of Bhubaneshwar. These Hindus see their Goddess as a mother and a warrior, fierce, but always remembering her nurturing duties. [...]