Encountering the goddess in the indian himalaya: On the contribution of ethnographic film to the study of religion

Arik Moran

doi:10.3390/rel12111021

Encountering the goddess in the indian himalaya: On the contribution of ethnographic film to the study of religion

Arik Moran

Department of Asian Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the benefits of ethnographic film for the study of religion. It argues that the exploration of gaps between colloquial descriptions of divinities and their practical manifestation in ritual is instructive of the way religious categories are conceptualized. The argument is developed through an analysis of selected scenes from the documentary AVATARA, a meditation on goddess worship (Śaktism) among the Khas ethnic majority of the Hindu Himalaya (Himachal Pradesh, India). Centering on embodiments of the goddess in spirit possession séances, it points to a fundamental difference between the popular depiction of the deity as a virgin-child (kanyā) who visits followers in their dreams and her actual manifestation as a menacing mother (mātā) during ritual activities. These ostensibly incongruent images are ultimately bridged by the anthropologically informed edition of the material caught on camera, illustrating the added advantage of documentary filmmaking for approximating religious experiences.

Original language	English
Article number	1021
Journal	Religions
Volume	12
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12111021
State	Published - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: Research was funded by the European Science Commission’s FP-7 Curie-Skoldowa Actions (grant number 334489). The writing up of fingind was facilitated by Israel Science Foundation, grant number 203/21.

Funding Information:
Research was funded by the European Science Commission?s FP-7 Curie-Skoldowa Actions (grant number 334489). The writing up of fingind was facilitated by Israel Science Foundation, grant number 203/21.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Ethnographic film
Exorcism
Goddess
Himalaya
Hinduism
Khas
Religious experience
Ritual
Shakti (śakti)
Spirit possession
Tantra

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Religious studies

Access to Document

10.3390/rel12111021

Cite this

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abstract = "This paper examines the benefits of ethnographic film for the study of religion. It argues that the exploration of gaps between colloquial descriptions of divinities and their practical manifestation in ritual is instructive of the way religious categories are conceptualized. The argument is developed through an analysis of selected scenes from the documentary AVATARA, a meditation on goddess worship ({\'S}aktism) among the Khas ethnic majority of the Hindu Himalaya (Himachal Pradesh, India). Centering on embodiments of the goddess in spirit possession s{\'e}ances, it points to a fundamental difference between the popular depiction of the deity as a virgin-child (kanyā) who visits followers in their dreams and her actual manifestation as a menacing mother (mātā) during ritual activities. These ostensibly incongruent images are ultimately bridged by the anthropologically informed edition of the material caught on camera, illustrating the added advantage of documentary filmmaking for approximating religious experiences.",

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Encountering the goddess in the indian himalaya: On the contribution of ethnographic film to the study of religion

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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