
pdf
Continuity and Change in the Religious Tradition of Goddess Tara
Continuity and Change in the Religious Tradition of Goddess Tara
Abstract:
Keywords: Cultural Landscape, Mental Representation, Symbols, Syncretism
The living religious tradition of Goddess Tara, popularly practiced in Eastern India, owed its antiquity to the early medieval times in the roots of popular Buddhism. This period witnessed conceptualization and procurement phases of Tara’s deification supplementary to the contemporary institution changes in almost all aspects of material life. Till present religious cognition associated with deity Tara is operational extensively, incorporating and obliterating facets, retaining the primary beliefs. Present paper represents an initial research attempt to come beyond the aesthetic parameters of treating structures, sculptures and other religious artefacts, instead looking at them as evidences in making of religious landscape. The papers has tried to look into any and all kind of religious artefacts of goddess Tara as clues in given time and space to understand their symbolic values, specifically, for what purposes these objects were created and retained. Attempts to equate Buddhist aspects with accustomed religious practices of a slightly different tradition of Hinduism can be noticed in the case of ‘Laxmi-Tara’ shrine in Bihar, worship of Tara in form of Durga in Kamakhya temple of Assam and worship of Tara as Kali in communal religious festivals of Bengal which provides important evidences of religious syncretism. An investigation on use of Tara’s name in commercialization of commodities, brand products, vehicles, travel agencies, hotels and palmistry centres in core and peripheral areas of Tara’s religious has provided important information about popularization religious imageries.
Elora Tribedy hasn't uploaded this talk.
Let Elora know you want this talk to be uploaded.