Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz – författare

Reciting the Goddess presents the first critical study of the Svasthanivratakatha (SVK), a sixteenth-century Hindu narrative textual tradition. The extensive SVK manuscript tradition offers a rare opportunity to observe the making of a specific, distinct Hindu religious tradition. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz argues that the SVK serves as a lens through which we can observe the creation of modern ''Hinduism'' in the Himalayas, as the text both mirrored and informed key moments in the self-conscious creation of Nepal as the ''world''s only Hindu kingdom'' in the late medieval and early modern period. Birkenholtz mines the literary historiography that is contained within the SVK text itself, chronicling the text''s literary and narrative development as well as the development of the Svasthani goddess tradition. She outlines the process whereby the SVK gradually transformed into a Purana text, and became a critical source for Nepali Hindu belief and identity. She also examines the elusive character of the goddess Svasthani whose identity is tied to the pan-Hindu goddess tradition, and the representation of women in the SVK and the ways in which the text influenced local and regional debates on the ideal of Hindu womanhood. Reciting the Goddess presents Nepal''s celebrated SVK as a micro-level illustration of the powerful ways in which people, place, and literature intersect to produce new ideas and concepts of identity and place, even in a historically non-literate culture.

The Swasthani Vrata Katha is the most widely read, recited, and listened-to devotional text among Hindu laity in Nepal. Originating in the late sixteenth century, the Swasthani tradition encompasses three interrelated elements: the goddess Swasthani, revered as the goddess of "one's own place"; the goddess's story (katha) and its annual recitation; and the month-long ritual vow (vrat) undertaken by women to honor Swasthani. Today, the Swasthani blends widely circulating Hindu myths—featuring Shiva, Sati, and Parvati—with local folk narratives that reflect women's everyday hardships and the worldly and spiritual rewards of fulfilling one's dharma and devotion to Swasthani.This textual and ritual practice devoted to the goddess Swasthani centers women's roles, expectations, and responses and has significantly shaped Nepali Hindu identity and practice for both women and men. In Nepal, the Swasthani holds cultural, religious, and social significance comparable to the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics elsewhere in the Hindu world. Its characters—Goma, her son Navaraj, and his wife Chandravati—similarly offer a familiar local cultural vocabulary through their trials and triumphs.This book presents the first full-length scholarly English translation of this important text from the original Nepali. As Parvati once brought Swasthani's story from the divine to the human realm, this translation brings it from Nepal to a broader English-speaking audience.This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

The Swasthani Vrata Katha is the most widely read, recited, and listened-to devotional text among Hindu laity in Nepal. Originating in the late sixteenth century, the Swasthani tradition encompasses three interrelated elements: the goddess Swasthani, revered as the goddess of "e;one's own place"e;; the goddess's story (katha) and its annual recitation; and the month-long ritual vow (vrat) undertaken by women to honor Swasthani. Today, the Swasthani blends widely circulating Hindu myths-featuring Shiva, Sati, and Parvati-with local folk narratives that reflect women's everyday hardships and the worldly and spiritual rewards of fulfilling one's dharma and devotion to Swasthani. This textual and ritual practice devoted to the goddess Swasthani centers women's roles, expectations, and responses and has significantly shaped Nepali Hindu identity and practice for both women and men. In Nepal, the Swasthani holds cultural, religious, and social significance comparable to the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics elsewhere in the Hindu world. Its characters Goma, her son Navaraj, and his wife Chandravati similarly offer a familiar local cultural vocabulary through their trials and triumphs. This book presents the first full-length scholarly English translation of this important text from the original Nepali. As Parvati once brought Swasthani's story from the divine to the human realm, this translation brings it from Nepal to a broader English-speaking audience. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

The Swasthani Vrata Katha is the most widely read, recited, and listened-to devotional text among Hindu laity in Nepal. Originating in the late sixteenth century, the Swasthani tradition encompasses three interrelated elements: the goddess Swasthani, revered as the goddess of "e;one's own place"e;; the goddess's story (katha) and its annual recitation; and the month-long ritual vow (vrat) undertaken by women to honor Swasthani. Today, the Swasthani blends widely circulating Hindu myths-featuring Shiva, Sati, and Parvati-with local folk narratives that reflect women's everyday hardships and the worldly and spiritual rewards of fulfilling one's dharma and devotion to Swasthani. This textual and ritual practice devoted to the goddess Swasthani centers women's roles, expectations, and responses and has significantly shaped Nepali Hindu identity and practice for both women and men. In Nepal, the Swasthani holds cultural, religious, and social significance comparable to the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics elsewhere in the Hindu world. Its characters Goma, her son Navaraj, and his wife Chandravati similarly offer a familiar local cultural vocabulary through their trials and triumphs. This book presents the first full-length scholarly English translation of this important text from the original Nepali. As Parvati once brought Swasthani's story from the divine to the human realm, this translation brings it from Nepal to a broader English-speaking audience. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Reciting the Goddess is the first book-length study of Nepal's goddess Svasthani and the popular Svasthanivratakatha textual tradition. In the centuries following its origin as a simple local legend in the sixteenth century, the Svasthanivratakatha developed into a comprehensive Purana text that is still widely celebrated today among Nepal's Hindus with an annual month-long recitation. Jessica Birkenholtz uses the Svasthanivratakatha as a medium through which to view the ways in which political and cultural shifts among Nepal's ruling elite were taken up by the general public. Drawing on both archival and ethnographic research, the book examines Svasthani and the Svasthanivratakatha within the shifting literary, linguistic, religious, cultural, and political contexts of medieval and modern Nepal from the sixteenth century to the present. It also explores both the complementary and contentious relationships between Nepal's heterogeneous Newar Hindu and high-caste hill Hindu communities, and those of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom vis-à-vis Hindu India. Reciting the Goddess brings the Svasthani devotional tradition to light as a new case study in the discussion of the making of Hindu religious identity and practice in Nepal and South Asia.

Reciting the Goddess presents the first critical study of the Svasthanivratakatha (SVK), a sixteenth-century Hindu narrative textual tradition. The extensive SVK manuscript tradition offers a rare opportunity to observe the making of a specific, distinct Hindu religious tradition. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz argues that the SVK serves as a lens through which we can observe the creation of modern ''Hinduism'' in the Himalayas, as the text both mirrored and informed key moments in the self-conscious creation of Nepal as the ''world''s only Hindu kingdom'' in the late medieval and early modern period. Birkenholtz mines the literary historiography that is contained within the SVK text itself, chronicling the text''s literary and narrative development as well as the development of the Svasthani goddess tradition. She outlines the process whereby the SVK gradually transformed into a Purana text, and became a critical source for Nepali Hindu belief and identity. She also examines the elusive character of the goddess Svasthani whose identity is tied to the pan-Hindu goddess tradition, and the representation of women in the SVK and the ways in which the text influenced local and regional debates on the ideal of Hindu womanhood. Reciting the Goddess presents Nepal''s celebrated SVK as a micro-level illustration of the powerful ways in which people, place, and literature intersect to produce new ideas and concepts of identity and place, even in a historically non-literate culture.

Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era.Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.

Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era.Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.

Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era.Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.