Servants of the Goddess
The Priests of a South Indian Temple

Drawing upon his extensive field research, Dr Fuller discusses the role of the priests in the Minaksi Temple and their place in the wider society.

C. J. Fuller (Author)

9780521040099, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 September 2007

264 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.402 kg

The Minaksi Temple is one of the largest, most celebrated and most popular Hindu temples in India. Situated in the ancient south Indian city of Madurai, it is dedicated to the goddess Minaksi and her husband the god Sundaresvara, a form of the great god ?iva. Minaksi's principal servants in the Temple are the priests who carry out all the elaborate rituals for her and Sundaresvara, and these priests are the subject of this book. Drawing upon his extensive field research in the Temple, Dr Fuller discusses the role of the priests in the Temple and their place in the wider society. He looks at their rights and duties in the Temple, and at the changes in their position that have occurred since the establishment of a modern government and legal system. Throughout his book, the author situates his detailed analysis of the Minaksi Temple priesthood within its wider social and historical context, and relates it to the previous work of anthropologists, as well as of historians, Sanskritists and legal scholars.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Preface
Notes on transliteration, references and Indian currency
Glossary
Key to maps 2 and 3
1. Minaksi, Sundaresvara and their Temple in Madurai
2. The priests and hierarchy within the Temple
3. The relative inferiority of the Brahman temple priest
4. Kingship, the law and the priests' rights and duties
5. The government and the Temple
6. The ?gamas and temple reform
7. Conclusion
Appendices
Notes
References
List of cases
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]