This book is a study of the shifts in historical context of ritual observances from Vedic to Puranic traditions. It looks into the representations of women in early textual traditions to explore how women's identities are not only established in ritual spaces but are also constantly reworked and negotiated. It is in this context that this book attempts to "re-read" the Matsyamahapurana and through the study of vratas and myths, reconstruct the anxieties ...
Engendering the Early Household: Brahmanical Precepts in the Early Grhyasutras, Middle of the First Millenium B.C.E.
Engendering the Early Household is a socio-historical study of the Grhyasutras, which are texts that detail rituals for the household. Compiled after the Vedas and the Bramanas, they represent how Brahmanical ideology came to be consolidated and how Varna and gender hierarchies solidified. Using the texts, this book presents how the Grhyasutras assimilated and 'brahmanised' commonly practised rituals in a selective manner, highlighting only rituals centred around ...
