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Blood in the Mainstream: Kālī Pūjā and Tantric Orthodoxy in Early Modern Bengal

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Abstract

A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ways of thinking about blood sacrifice in Hinduism. In this case, it appears that we may have underappreciated the impact of sectarian conflict. Through an exploration of the traditional origins of public Kālī Pūjā, I argue that its promotion with the attendant sacrifice by Brāhmaṇa aristocrats such as Rāja Kṛṣṇacandra Rāya of Nadīyā (1710–1782) can be read as a claim on public space for the Tantric yet socially and theologically conservative Smārta Hinduism favored by the upper castes over and against the comparatively egalitarian, sacrifice-averse ethos of the local Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement.

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  1. Mattoo Center for India Studies, Stony Brook University, Melville Library E5350, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Joel Bordeaux

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Bordeaux, J. Blood in the Mainstream: Kālī Pūjā and Tantric Orthodoxy in Early Modern Bengal. Hindu Studies 23, 151–164 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-019-09257-0

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