1st Edition

Gendered Agency in Transcultural Hinduism and Buddhism

Edited By Ute Hüsken, Agi Wittich, Nanette R. Spina Copyright 2024
300 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

300 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

300 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Focusing on complex entanglements of religion and gender from a diversity of perspectives, this book explores how women enact agencies in transcultural Hindu and Buddhist settings. The chapters draw on original, in-depth empirical research in various contexts in South Asian religious traditions. Today, in an increasing number of such contexts, women are able to undergo monastic and priestly... Read more

1. From Matriarch to Divine Mother: Caste, Gender, and Deification in Hagiographies of Satīmā

Arkamitra Ghatak

2. Biographies of Enhanced Agency and Self-Made Gurus: From Housewives into Founders of Guru-Bhakti Communities

Michal Erlich

3. Women’s Ritual Expression and Religious Agency: Om Śakti Communicating Innovation in Contemporary Hinduism

Nanette R. Spina

4. Forgotten Priestesses: A ‘witch,’ a Queen and a Ritual Stew

Tara Sheemar Malhan

5. Women Sharing Bhakti, Women Singing Devotion: Friends, Teachers, and Leaders in the Hindu Diaspora

Vasudha Narayanan

6. Reinventing Selves: Religiosity and Female Agency in the Siri Tradition of Tulunad in India

Pauline Schuster-Löhlau and Yogitha Shetty

7. Yoga’s Red Tent: Menstrual-Oriented Iyengar Yoga Practices

Agi Wittich

8. Womanhood and Female Agency in Bengali Vaishnava Sahajiya Tradition

Amnuaypond Kidpromma

9. Encountering in a New Phase: Monastic Education for Buddhist Nuns in Sri Lanka

Gihani De Silva

10. Against Marginality, Inequality, and Dependency: Remarkable Buddhist Nuns in Sikkim

Marlene Erschbamer

11. Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation

Interview with Radha Paudel, conducted by Ute Hüsken

12. The Changing Attitudes Towards Female Priesthood in Hinduism: Insights from Pune, Southern India

Interview with Aaryaa Joshi, conducted by Agi Wittich

13. Beyond Boundaries: A Modern Buddhist Nun’s Journey Towards Enlightenment

Interview with Ayyā Phalañāṇī, conducted by Agi Wittich

14. Luminous Insight: An Interview with Ayyā Tathālokā from Dhammadharini Monastery (USA)

Interview with Ayyā Tathālokā, conducted by Nanette R. Spina

Biography

Ute Hüsken is Professor and Head of the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology) in the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany.

Agi Wittich holds a PhD in Comparative Religions from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Nanette R. Spina is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Georgia, USA.