Mothering Rituals: A Study on Low Caste Women in Kolkata
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- Catalogue identifier
- klm000046
- Alternate titles and import identifiers
- KLM000046
- Author or attribution
- Riikka Uuksulainen
- Record type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Date / edition
- 2013-06-26
- Source / repository
- University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology; HELDA institutional repository
- Access
- Open access
- Subjects
- KLM Research Sources — Batch 11; Theses and Dissertations; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions
Description and curator notes
Drawing on three fieldwork periods between 2002 and 2008 and interviews with thirty-two mothers in three Kolkata neighborhoods, this dissertation examines rituals connected with fertility, childbirth and children’s protection. Uuksulainen approaches offerings, fasts, vows and promises through the idea of reciprocal exchange between devotees and deities, while asking how ritual activity shapes women’s agency and standing within their communities. Kali appears in accounts of fertility vows fulfilled at Kalighat, inherited household puja, protective amulets from Dakshineswar and pilgrimage. Particularly substantial passages explore possession associated with Kali and Tara, including women’s descriptions of divine advice, demands for purity and obligations to fulfill promises. An extended account examines a mother’s relationship with Kali through repeated vows made during her children’s illnesses. These narratives are presented as religious experiences and interpretations, not evidence of medical efficacy. Although the dissertation covers several deities and many wider mothering practices, it offers detailed contextual evidence for Kali’s place in everyday family concerns, devotional obligation and women’s ritual lives.
Research source KLM000046, Batch 11 export dated 5 November 2026.
The access, completeness, rights and reading assessments below come from the curator export, not a new independent verification by this library.
Mothering Rituals: A Study on Low Caste Women in Kolkata
English title: Mothering Rituals: A Study on Low Caste Women in Kolkata
Author or attribution: Riikka Uuksulainen
Publication date: 2013-06-26
Publisher or repository: University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology; HELDA institutional repository
Edition details: Doctoral dissertation in comparative religion, Helsinki, 2013; public examination 26 June 2013. Complete 314-page PDF with bibliography through printed p301 and a final blank page.
Language: English
Type: Doctoral dissertation; complete official institutional repository PDF
Subjects: Theses and Dissertations; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions
Drawing on three fieldwork periods between 2002 and 2008 and interviews with thirty-two mothers in three Kolkata neighborhoods, this dissertation examines rituals connected with fertility, childbirth and children’s protection. Uuksulainen approaches offerings, fasts, vows and promises through the idea of reciprocal exchange between devotees and deities, while asking how ritual activity shapes women’s agency and standing within their communities. Kali appears in accounts of fertility vows fulfilled at Kalighat, inherited household puja, protective amulets from Dakshineswar and pilgrimage. Particularly substantial passages explore possession associated with Kali and Tara, including women’s descriptions of divine advice, demands for purity and obligations to fulfill promises. An extended account examines a mother’s relationship with Kali through repeated vows made during her children’s illnesses. These narratives are presented as religious experiences and interpretations, not evidence of medical efficacy. Although the dissertation covers several deities and many wider mothering practices, it offers detailed contextual evidence for Kali’s place in everyday family concerns, devotional obligation and women’s ritual lives.
Kali relevance: Contextual but substantive lived-religion evidence rather than only generic Divine Mother background: pp216–217 compare Kali and Śani; pp223–227 analyze possession and healing narratives, including direct Kali/Tara testimony at p225 and an extended account of Kali’s demands for fulfilled vows at p226. Additional direct Kali practice appears at pp117,188,206 and229. Not a dedicated Kali monograph.
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Source or repository record
Rights: Copyright Riikka Uuksulainen. HELDA metadata states: “This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.” Link to the lawful institutional copy; no permission to rehost is established.
Evidence class: University of Helsinki doctoral dissertation in comparative religion; title page confirms Faculty of Theology examination. Official metadata identifies advisors Tuula Sakaranaho, René Gothóni and Juha Pentikäinen and opponent June McDaniel. Ethnographic research based on three fieldwork periods in 2002–2008 and interviews with 32 mothers; not a journal article.
Reading limits: Title and preliminary matter, representative substantive Kali-related sections, conclusion and final bibliography inspected directly. Beginning, substantive interior and last printed page also rendered and visually inspected. Completeness verified; not a line-by-line critical review or independent verification of ethnographic claims.
Composition date: Contemporary doctoral research; see publication date
Witness date: Complete institutional repository PDF verified on 2026-11-05
Access verification: Complete 314-page PDF freely downloadable without signup or payment through the official HELDA repository bitstream endpoint, resolved from its public item metadata.
Related sources:
Source and repository links:
https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/59c8ff95-ede5-48cb-9b8b-8441e5464178/content
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/39263
Source access
Rights and reading conditions
Copyright Riikka Uuksulainen. HELDA metadata states: “This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.” Link to the lawful institutional copy; no permission to rehost is established.
Citation
Riikka Uuksulainen. Mothering Rituals: A Study on Low Caste Women in Kolkata. University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology; HELDA institutional repository. 2013-06-26. Doctoral dissertation in comparative religion, Helsinki, 2013; public examination 26 June 2013. Complete 314-page PDF with bibliography through printed p301 and a final blank page.
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.