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Akāaparamēcuvari: a goddess of Tamilnadu, her myths and cult. By Eveline Meyer, (Beiträge zur Südasienforschung, Südasien­Institut, Universität Heidellberg, Bd. 107.) pp. xii, 339, illus., 2 maps. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden Gmbh, 1986. DM 56.

Albertine Gaur

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society / Volume 119 / Issue 02 / April 1987, pp 357 ­ 358DOI: 10.1017/S0035869X00141073, Published online: 15 March 2011

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0035869X00141073

How to cite this article:Albertine Gaur (1987). Review of Eveline Meyer 'Akāaparamēcuvari: a goddess of Tamilnadu, her myths and cult' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,119, pp 357­358 doi:10.1017/S0035869X00141073

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REVIEWS OF BOOKS 357

Smith's advocacy of an informed, but essentially open, reading of kavya redresses the balanceand prepares the way for a genuine appreciation.

Ch. 3 discusses the social context of mahakavya, i.e. court society and its ideology, thestatus of the king, and the important role of eulogy. Here the author attempts to get behindthe invariably idealized literary representation to the reality. Ch. 4 presents Ratnakara's ownview of his work, expressed in the seven-verse coda to the poem. Ch. 5 analyses the structureof the HV as a whole and of each canto. Some interesting theories are offered aboutRatnakara's intentions in the placing of cantos 5 and 22, the descriptions of Mt. Mandara andof the ocean. Could these, and other such ideas, be tested by comparison with othermahakavyas?

The next three chapters are each devoted to one important group of protagonists in theslow-moving drama, and they give the reader an opportunity to sample large sections of thepoem in translation (the Sanskrit original is provided in footnotes): ch. 6 the Ganas and theirspeeches to which Keith so much objected (cantos 7-16 and 31-38); ch. 7 Ratnakara's presen-tation of women (esp. in cantos 17, 18 and 23-27 "the pleasure sequence"); ch. 8 Siva'standava dance in canto 2, the philosophical hymn in praise of Siva in canto 6, the merging ofSiva and Parvati, in canto 21, and the hymn to Candi, the Goddess in her terrifying aspect,in canto 47 — also, the final verses of canto 50 which describe Siva's final victory (haravijaya)and impalement of the usurping demon Andhaka - like a scene from kathakali. Here theauthor draws attention to the intense awareness of the divine in the hymn to Siva and in theCandistotra which is imbued with Kaula Saktism, something quite distinctive when set againstthe standard neutrality of kavya towards the gods.

Ch. 9 selects for discussion some of the more insistent symbols in the poem, which arepeculiar to kavya in general: winged mountains, the pregnancy of trees, precious stones, thelotus, the bee, the mirror, the moon and its markings, and the submarine fire. Ch. 10 examinesRatnakara's use of s'lesa, the most conspicuous feature of his style, and ch. 11 concludesbriefly with a few general impressions of the work.

Dr Smith has taken what is ostensibly the most unapproachable example of mahakavya toshow that a patient and sympathetic reading can reveal pattern and purpose. Even if it may notbe the masterpiece at which Ratnakara aimed, there is evidently much that rewards closerattention, if the effort is made. The emphasis of the book is on the poem's structure, its salientthemes and general meaning. But, as the author himself admits, this is only a preliminaryview: Ratnakara's claim that "there is a wonderful beauty of sound in our verses" is leftundiscussed, as is his use of metre. Wisely perhaps, the poetry of individual verses is left tospeak for itself (p. 178). "The proper assessment of the Haravijaya has as its essential pre-requisite comparison with other mahakavyas which have been studied in at least equal depth"(p. 305). Such a comparison would make good the inevitable deficiencies of ch. 1 and providea test for the author's speculations about Ratnakara's intentions and individuality. Meanwhilewe must be grateful for such a positive and stimulating introduction to his work.

PETER KHOROCHE

ANKALAPARAMECUVARI : A GODDESS OF TAMILNADU, HER MYTHS AND CULT. By EVELINEMEYER. (Beitrage zur Siidasienforschung, Siidasien-Institut, Universitat Heidelberg, Bd.107.) pp. xii, 339, illus., 2 maps. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden Gmbh, 1986.DM56.

This is a well thought out and well researched book based largely on material collectedduring two years of fieldwork in the course of which the author visited some sixty differentArikajamman temples (nearly half of the total listed in the 1961 Census), talking to pujaris anddevotees, witnessing festivals and rituals in an attempt to obtain a comprehensive picture of

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the goddess in her contemporary manifestations. The research focuses predominantly on themyths and rituals associated with Arikalamman; its main objective being the discovery andabstraction of a core of rituals and myths especially associated with her which differentiate herfrom the other Ammas, the disease-giving and disease-curing female deities of southern India.

The first chapter deals with the image of the goddess according to the myths related by herdevotees and the various forms she assumes: mostly a woman but at times she may alsomanifest herself in a more archaic manner as a snake, a termite hill, a grinding stone, a pitcherand so forth. Nearly all the myths show a kaleidoscopic mixture of folk and tribal, Dravidian(i.e. Tamil-literate) and Sanskritic/Hindu elements. A recurrent theme is the motif of theoriginally independent all-powerful female, capable of re-creating without the assistance of amale, who is tricked into handing over her power to a "husband". There are often elements ofarchetypal fear in these stories, reflecting the unease of a parasitical, historically later, pat-riarchal society towards earlier strata of matrilineal communities.

The temples of Arikalamman, simple affairs dependent on the wealth of their clientele,which are examined in the second chapter (together with her iconography) and the castesentrusted with her service, reflect her "otherness' by their very location: the outskirts of avillage, the proximity of the cremation ground, an area of uncultivated land. Her offerings,though nowadays as a result of prevailing laws largely vegetarian, bear nearly always clear, ifonly symbolic traces of earlier animal or human sacrifices. The castes which provide pujarisand claim Arikalamman as their kula levy am are predictably non-Brahmanical; altogetherfourteen are named by the author, the most frequently quoted being that of the Pantaram(priests, makers of flower garlands and suppliers of flowers for worship), followed by Cettiyarswho, being traders, took the worship of the goddess and some of her most daunting ritualsabroad, most notably to Malaysia. As in the case of Mariyamman, the pujari can be a womanbelonging to the hereditary priest family of a particular shrine, though this does not happentoo often.

The most fascinating chapter deals with festivals and rituals which more than anything elsereveal the true character and the possible origin of the goddess. Though Arikalamman sharesmany rituals, and many elements of her iconography, with the other disease-giving Ammas(the walking over burning coals, the sacred vessels, the flag, the possession by the goddess ofchosen worshippers) there are two distinctly different and unique core rituals: themayanakkollai consisting of the figure in the cremation ground and the kapparai; andpillaippatvu consisting of the figure of the child in the winnowing fan taken through the streetsof the village, and the wearing of intestines as garlands.

A special chapter deals with the Dravidian element of the goddess, that is with texts writtenin Tamil (songs, prayers, passages in the local puranas). Examples of such literature, both intransliteration and in English translation, a chronologically arranged bibliography, a list ofinformants, photographs and some maps are arranged in the appendix of this excellent work.

ALBERTINE GAUR

SCHATTENSPIEL IN KERALA: SAKRALES THEATER IN SUD-lNDIEN, MIT SUMMARY UND EINEMANHANG: SEQUENCE OF SCENES OF THE KAMBA-RAMAYANAK-KUTTU . By FRIEDRICHSELTMANN. pp. 134, 3 figs., 44 pi. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, 1986.DM148.

The shadow play in Kerala has the appearance of being a somewhat decadent and incom-plete survival of an art form which was once of substantial importance, with a long butunrecorded history, and probably a high degree of sophistication. Dr Seltmann has given us afull and systematic description of this art as it now is, based on his travels and residence inIndia, photographs and tape recordings, and collections of the leather puppets. In addition to