Camunda's Glory: Representations of the Fierce Goddess in Puranic Literature and Indian (Temple) Art

本论文将探讨印度教中凶猛的女神形象及其发展。这些愤怒的女神有各种各样的名字，最常见的是Camunda，构成了Camunda-type。据说他们住在火葬场，他们通常的特点是，例如，一个瘦弱的身体，一个可怕的面孔，和一个尸体作为车辆。它们的属性包括头骨花环和头骨杯。作为神的代表，她们将神圣的女性、独立的、强大的和极端激烈的体现出来。被认为是“部落”的起源，从世纪开始，卡蒙达类型变得越来越突出，本论文旨在为卡蒙达描绘一个发展叙事，类型通过图像学的透镜，通过分析选定的相关文本和印度寺庙艺术的实例。文本工作将扎根于从Puranic传说样本，视觉证据将集中在来自印度北部和中部的中世纪寺庙雕塑，即拉贾斯坦邦和中央邦。可怕的女神的概念在一些最早的经文中并不是完全未知的，如吠陀和史诗。然而，宇宙古史，一组从公元三世纪左右汇编的文本，更频繁地包括可怕的邪恶，并为他们提供叙述。在这一时期，当地或土著的女祭司观念进入了婆罗门神话和习俗所延续的更广泛的万神殿的过程变得很明显。这种对野性女神现象的包容和《古兰经》的认可是她身份的一个关键时刻。卡蒙达类型在泛印度范围内越来越被接受和流行，不仅反映在文学中，而且也反映在整个次大陆的寺庙中的众多表现中，特别是在它们作为一套母亲女神的一部分的早期阶段。描绘女神的两个主要地区是中央邦和拉贾斯坦邦。在这里，我们发现了一些最早和最精心的描绘，她作为七个或八个母亲之一，一个独立崇拜的女神，和一个瑜伽修行者。对这些地区寺庙的调查将试图揭示可能的王朝，地区和宗派偏好（或相似之处），并澄清她与其他神灵的关系。这些雕塑将在寺庙的环境中观看，重点是空间和意义。从文本和视觉材料中推断出的图像类型将被并列，以检测文本和图像是否以及在多大程度上相互依赖，以及产生了什么效果。由此产生的调查结果将允许探索更广泛的历史发展和情况下，卡蒙达型女神蓬勃发展，特别是她获得进入泛印度万神殿的过程中，作为普遍的大女神的激烈方面。

The dissertation will investigate the iconography and development of fierce goddesses in Hinduism. These wrathful goddesses are known under various names, most popularly Camunda, and constitute the Camunda-type. They are said to reside on the cremation grounds, and they usually feature, for instance, an emaciated body, a gruesome visage, and a corpse as vehicle. Among their attributes are skull garlands and skull cups. As representations of the divine, they embody the sacred as female, independent, powerful, and drastically fierce.Believed to be of 'tribal' origin, the Camunda-type became increasingly prominent from the fifth century onward, both in literature and art. This dissertation intends to delineate a developmental narrative for the Camunda-type through the lens of iconography by analysing selected pertinent texts and instances of Indian temple art. The textual work will be grounded in samples from Puranic lore, and the visual evidence will focus on medieval temple sculptures from North and Central India, i.e. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.The notion of the terrifying goddess is not entirely unknown to some of the earliest scriptures such as the Vedas and Epics. However, the Puranas, a group of texts compiled from around the third century AD, include terrifying goddesses more frequently and provide narratives for them. The process in which local or indigenous notions of goddesses have entered the broader pantheon perpetuated by Brahmanic mythology and practices becomes apparent in this period. This inclusion and Puranic approval of the wild goddess phenomenon is a crucial moment in her identity.The increasing acceptance and popularity of the Camunda-type on a pan-Indian scale is reflected not only in literature but also demonstrated by the numerous representations in temples throughout the subcontinent, especially in their early stages as part of a set of mother goddesses. Two main areas of the goddess's depiction are Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Here, we find some of the earliest and most elaborate portrayals of her as one of the seven or eight mothers, an independently worshipped goddess, and a yogini. A survey of temples in those regions will attempt to reveal possible dynastic, regional and sectarian preferences (or similarities) as well as clarify her relation to other deities. The sculptures will be viewed in their temple setting, with an emphasis on space and meaning.The iconographic types, extrapolated from textual and visual material, will be juxtaposed to detect if and to what degree texts and images operate interdependently and to what effects. The resulting findings will then allow for an exploration of broader historical developments and circumstances in which the Camunda-type goddess thrived, particularly the process in which she gained access into a pan-Indian pantheon as the fierce aspect of the universal Great Goddess.