Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur
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- Catalogue identifier
- kali-klm000031
- Alternate titles and import identifiers
- KLM000031
- Author or attribution
- M. J. Gentes (as printed; expanded name not established)
- Record type
- Article
- Language
- English
- Date / edition
- 1992
- Source / repository
- Asian Folklore Studies; publisher archive maintained by Asian Ethnology
- Access
- Open access
- Subjects
- Kali Website Research Catalogue; Academic Research and Peer-Reviewed Articles; Temples, Sacred Places, and Historical Worship; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions
Description and curator notes
Gentes examines the Bharani festival at Sri Kurumba Kavu in Kodungallur, Kerala, combining firsthand observations in 1990 with earlier ethnography and local interpretations. The study describes Bhadrakali’s icon, oracle specialists, ritual authority, songs, offerings, and contested acts of ceremonial pollution. It distinguishes practices witnessed by the researcher from more sensational allegations that were not observed. The article is especially useful for understanding caste, gender, and competing interpretations within a regional goddess tradition. Its later comparisons with Mediterranean mystery cults are exploratory arguments, not proof of a shared prehistoric origin. Read it as a historically situated ethnographic interpretation rather than a description of every present-day Kali temple.
KLM000031 — Kali Website Research Catalogue.
Access, completeness and evidence assessments below are attributed to the supplied curator document, not a new independent verification by this library.
Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur
English title: Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur
Author / attribution: M. J. Gentes (as printed; expanded name not established)
Publication: 1992
Publisher / repository: Asian Folklore Studies; publisher archive maintained by Asian Ethnology
Edition details: Asian Folklore Studies 51(2) (1992): 295–322; complete 28-page article
Language: English
Type: Scholarly journal article; ethnographic study
Subjects: Academic Research and Peer-Reviewed Articles; Temples, Sacred Places, and Historical Worship; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions
Gentes examines the Bharani festival at Sri Kurumba Kavu in Kodungallur, Kerala, combining firsthand observations in 1990 with earlier ethnography and local interpretations. The study describes Bhadrakali’s icon, oracle specialists, ritual authority, songs, offerings, and contested acts of ceremonial pollution. It distinguishes practices witnessed by the researcher from more sensational allegations that were not observed. The article is especially useful for understanding caste, gender, and competing interpretations within a regional goddess tradition. Its later comparisons with Mediterranean mystery cults are exploratory arguments, not proof of a shared prehistoric origin. Read it as a historically situated ethnographic interpretation rather than a description of every present-day Kali temple.
Kali relevance: Substantial direct discussion of Bhadrakali, her Kodungallur cult, Darukan mythology, and relationships with Kannaki traditions. Regional identifications are discussed rather than treating all goddesses as interchangeable.
Read complete source text
Source / repository record
Rights: Freely readable from the journal publisher’s archive. No article-specific open reproduction license established during inspection; link to the complete PDF rather than republishing it.
Evidence class: Professional scholarly journal article combining ethnographic observation with interpretation. Distinguish directly observed practices, informants’ claims, earlier scholarship, and speculative comparative hypotheses.
Reading limits: Beginning, substantive middle sections, concluding discussion, notes, and final bibliography inspected. Not a line-by-line critical assessment of every historical claim or cited work. OCR has occasional errors; page scans are available.
Composition date: Modern scholarly article based in part on firsthand observations of the 1990 festival
Witness date: Not applicable; publisher scan of the 1992 journal article
Source and repository links:
Read complete source text: https://asianethnology.org/article/148790-scandalizing-the-goddess-at-kodungallur.pdf
Source / repository record: https://asianethnology.org/article/148790-scandalizing-the-goddess-at-kodungallur
Source access
Rights and reading conditions
Freely readable from the journal publisher’s archive. No article-specific open reproduction license established during inspection; link to the complete PDF rather than republishing it. This library links to the host; no full text is reproduced.
Citation
M. J. Gentes (as printed; expanded name not established). Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur. Asian Folklore Studies; publisher archive maintained by Asian Ethnology. Asian Folklore Studies 51(2) (1992): 295–322; complete 28-page article. 1992
This page supplies catalogue metadata and links. It does not reproduce the underlying source text. Historical, religious, healing and interpretive claims belong to the cited sources, not to an independent verification by this catalogue.