Water and Womanhood: Religious Meanings of Rivers in Maharashtra [Hardcover]

Anne Feldhaus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1995

Feldhaus examines the role of certain 'domestic' values in the religious meanings of rivers in Maharashtra, a large region of western India. Feldhaus draws both on written religious texts and on a wide range of oral, iconographic, and ritual materials gathered in the course of field work in India.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Does a fine job of exploring an important aspect of folk Hinduism, a long neglected field. Touches on both the feminine and water aspects. A nice addition to an upper level syllabus."--Robert Forman, Hunter College

"Excellent general book and classroom text for Religion and South Asia courses, as well as Anthropology."--H.L. Seneviratne, University of Virginia

"Excellent work!"--Don St. John, Moravia College

"This superb piece of scholarship is indicative of the maturation of Indian Studies in America--deep, thorough, empathetic description coupled with sophisticated analysis. A fine contribution to our understanding of Indian culture."--Richard Lariviere, University of Texas

"Feldhaus's scholarship is very impressive....I recommend publication. The work is very readable and nothing like it exists. It is rich, engrossing and meaningful."--Ann Grodzins Gold, Cornell University

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Anne Feldhaus is at Arizona State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195091221
• ISBN-13: 978-0195091229
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,472,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Direction, April 27, 2001

By 

sasha_ (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water and Womanhood: Religious Meanings of Rivers in Maharashtra (Hardcover)

The subject of rivers in India may sound a little old hat. But this book really brings something new and valuable.

Unfortunately I read it over a year ago, so I don't remember every detail. But it was a book I was quite impressed with and lent to friends who were writing related papers at the time, so when I saw that no one else had written a review, I thought that I'd better.

To begin with, the author makes the simple point that rivers aren't primarily about purity/pollution, a typical dichotomy through which their religious significance is understood, but also about fertility/lack. That's new but not really a big surprise. But she goes on to talk about the Seven Sisters, goddesses who are present in certain water bodies, and who have the power to give a child and also to take one away.

She goes into them in a bit of detail, based on her interviews. They're often depicted as seven stones, or simply strokes of paint on stones near the water. Some people are loathe to talk about them, but she found a number of stories of rituals to the Sisters inducing them to give a child, or allow a sick child to live, or protect the children of a town from drowning.

If you're a bumbling student of Hinduism, as I've been, and you need all the help you can get finding information on what to write intelligent papers about, this book is not only highly interesting, but I believe it also marches into a subject area which is somewhat unexplored...of the really minimal symbols and representations of some small goddesses. I wish I could say more, but I'm not omniscient and I'm also a bit out of the field nowadays.

And for people who aren't struggling to write papers, it's just a very fine and readable book.