The Divine and Demoniac: Mahisa’s Heroic Struggle with Durga

Of the many images of divine female power in Hindu iconography, the strongest is arguably that of the Goddess Durga slaying the Buffalo-demon, Mahisa. Basing her discussion on the classical Hindu version of this legend, Carmel Berkson intersperses her analysis of the psychological meaning of the narrative with observations of how the present-day attitudes and behaviour of Hindu men bear out such an interpretation. Hailed as an ‘encyclopaedic work’ in a foreword by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, The Divine and Demoniac succeeds in combining a thorough, fully contextualized study of a myth and ritual complex with the author’s own vivid personal interpretation. Written in an engaging style and illustrated with photographs, this book is an essential read for all those interested in religion, sociology and psychoanalysis.