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

本文将对印度教中凶猛女神的形象及其发展进行研究。这些愤怒的女神有不同的名字，最常见的是卡蒙达，并构成了卡蒙达类型。据说他们居住在火葬场上，他们通常以消瘦的身体、可怕的面孔和身体为载体。它们的属性包括骷髅花环和骷髅杯。作为神圣的象征，它们体现了女性的神圣、独立、强大和激烈。卡蒙达类型被认为是来自部落的，从公元5世纪开始在文学和艺术上越来越突出。本文试图通过对相关文本和印度寺庙艺术实例的分析，以图像学的视角勾勒出卡蒙达类型的发展叙事。考证工作将以来自古兰经的样本为基础，视觉证据将集中在印度北部和中部的中世纪寺庙雕塑，即拉贾斯坦邦和中央邦。可怕女神的概念对于一些最早的经文，如吠陀和史诗来说并不是完全陌生的。然而，《往世书》是公元3世纪左右编纂的一组文本，它更频繁地包括可怕的女神，并为她们提供叙事。当地或土著女神观念进入由婆罗门教神话和习俗延续的更广泛的万神殿的过程在这一时期变得明显起来。这种对野生女神现象的包容和《古兰经》对她身份的认可是她身份的关键时刻。泛印度范围内对卡蒙达类型的日益接受和流行不仅反映在文学上，而且体现在整个次大陆各地寺庙中的众多表现中，特别是在她们作为母神的一部分的早期阶段。女神的两个主要描绘区域是中央邦和拉贾斯坦邦。在这里，我们找到了一些最早和最精致的描绘，她是七八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)，并澄清她与其他神的关系。这些雕塑将在寺庙的背景下观看，强调空间和意义。从文本和视觉材料推断的图像类型将并列在一起，以检测文本和图像是否相互依赖，以及在多大程度上相互依赖，以及产生什么效果。由此产生的发现将允许探索更广泛的历史发展和卡蒙达式女神茁壮成长的环境，特别是她进入泛印度万神殿的过程，作为宇宙伟大女神的凶猛一面。

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.