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

本文将研究印度教中凶猛女神的形象及其发展。这些愤怒的女神有各种各样的名字，最常见的是卡蒙达，并构成了卡蒙达型。据说他们住在火葬场上，他们通常有一个瘦弱的身体，一个可怕的面孔，一个尸体作为交通工具。它们的特征包括骷髅花环和骷髅杯。作为神性的代表，她们体现了女性、独立、强大和激烈的神圣。卡蒙达类型被认为是“部落”的起源，从五世纪开始，在文学和艺术上都变得越来越突出。本论文旨在通过分析选定的相关文本和印度寺庙艺术实例，通过图像学的视角来描绘卡蒙达类型的发展叙事。文本工作将以普兰教传说的样本为基础，视觉证据将集中在印度北部和中部的中世纪寺庙雕塑上，即拉贾斯坦邦和中央邦。在一些最早的经典中，如《吠陀经》和《史诗》，可怕女神的概念并非完全未知。然而，公元三世纪左右编撰的《往世史》中，更频繁地出现了可怕的女神，并提供了对她们的叙述。在这一时期，当地或土著的女神观念进入婆罗门神话和实践所延续的更广泛的万神殿的过程变得明显。这种对野女神现象的包容和Puranic认可是她身份的关键时刻。在整个印度范围内，卡蒙达类型的接受度和受欢迎程度越来越高，这不仅反映在文学上，也体现在整个次大陆的寺庙中，特别是在他们早期阶段作为一组母亲女神的一部分。女神的两个主要描绘区域是中央邦和拉贾斯坦邦。在这里，我们发现了一些最早和最详细的描绘，她是七八个母亲之一，一个独立崇拜的女神，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。这些雕塑将在他们的寺庙背景下被观看，重点是空间和意义。从文本和视觉材料推断的图像类型将被并列，以检测文本和图像是否相互依赖，以及在何种程度上相互依赖，以及产生何种影响。由此产生的发现将允许探索更广泛的历史发展和卡蒙达型女神兴盛的环境，特别是她作为普遍伟大女神的凶猛方面进入泛印度万神殿的过程。

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.