Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T02:09:47.811Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mumbādevī and the Other Mother Goddesses in Mumbai1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

MARIKA VICZIANY
Affiliation:
Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia3800, Tel: +61 3 9905 2124 Email: Marika.Vicziany@adm.monash.edu.auJayant.Bapat@adm.monash.edu.au
JAYANT BAPAT
Affiliation:
Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia3800, Tel: +61 3 9905 2124 Email: Marika.Vicziany@adm.monash.edu.auJayant.Bapat@adm.monash.edu.au

Abstract

Mumbādevī is the patron Goddess of the city of Mumbai, one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities of Asia. Local traditions say that Mumbādevī was a Koḷī Goddess and worshipped by the indigenous Koḷī fisher community for centuries. However, since the turn of the twentieth century the temple of Mumbādevī and the rituals surrounding the Goddess have gradually been Sanskritised. Today, Mumbādevī is more closely associated with the Gujarati community. This paper examines this transformation and in doing so reflects on the survival of Mumbādevī, the ongoing popularity of Goddess worship in Mumbai and the failure of Hindu fundamentalists to subordinate the Mother Goddesses of Mumbai to a more limited range of Hindu Gods.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

AP (Associated Press) (2005), ‘Indian temple stampede kills 256 pilgrims’, The London Press, 26 January, London Press News Web site.Google Scholar
Beane, Wendell Charles (1977), Myth, Cult and Symbols in Śākta Hinduism (Leiden: E. J. Brill).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalmia, Yashodhara (1988), The Painted World of the Warlis: art and ritual of the Warli Tribes of Maharashtra (New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi).Google Scholar
Dave, J. H. (1985), Śaktitatva ane Śivatatva (Mumbai: Śri Mumbādevī Mandir Trust) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Douglas, James (1893), Bombay and Western India: A Series of Stray Papers vol. 2, (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company).Google Scholar
Edwardes, S. M. (1909), The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island 3 vols, (Bombay: Times Press), facsimile reproduction by the Government Photozinco Press, Pune, 1977.Google Scholar
Enthoven, R. E. (1922), The Tribes and Castes of Bombay vol. 2, (Bombay: Government Central Presss).Google Scholar
Fritz, John M. Fritz and Michell, George (1991), The City of Victory: Vijayanagara (New York: Aperture), pp. 4950.Google Scholar
Graham, Maria (1812), Journal of a Residence in India (Edinburgh, London: Archibald Constable and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown). Facsimile reprint by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi/Madras, 2000.Google Scholar
Ghurye, G. S. (1963 [1957]), The Mahadev Kolis (Bombay: Popular Prakashan).Google Scholar
Hawley, John Stratton (1996), ‘Prologue: The Goddess in India’, in Hawley, John S. and Wulff, Donna M. (eds), Devī, Goddesses of India (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press), pp. 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jayakar, Pupul (1989), The Earth Mother (New Delhi: Penguin).Google Scholar
Jha, Subhash K. (2004), ‘Will not leave films: Govinda’, Times of India, 23 May, http://www.timesofindia.comGoogle Scholar
Kaur, Raminder (2002), ‘Martial Imagery in Western India: The Changing Face of Ganapati since the 1890s’, South Asia, vol. XXV, April 2002.Google Scholar
Kinsley, David (1998 [1987]), Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass).Google Scholar
Kishwar, Madhu Purnima (2005), ‘Emergency Avatar of a Secular Goddess: Manushi Swachha Narayanji Descends to Protect Street Vendors’, Manushi, 24 February, no. 147, pp. 1–13.Google Scholar
Krishnakumar, (2003), ‘Illegal shrines vanish from fresh BMC list’, Midday, 3 October, http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/october/65380.htm accessed June 2004.Google Scholar
Kumar, Pooja (2004), ‘Govinda may take on Ram Naik’, Midday, 21 February, http://www.mid-day.comGoogle Scholar
Lokhande, Deepak (2004a), ‘Govinda finds his true colour’, Midday, 26 March, http://www/mid-day.com/news/Google Scholar
Lokhande, Deepak (2004b), ‘Virarka Chhokra Dilli mein’, Midday, 27 March, http://www.midday.com.news/city.2004/marchGoogle Scholar
Lokhande, Deepak (2004c), ‘Govinda gela re. . . journeys to Virar again’, Midday, 31 May, http://www.midday.com.news/city/2004/marchGoogle Scholar
Malabari, Phiroze B. M. (1910), Bombay in the Making (London: T. Fisher Unwin).Google Scholar
Manju, V. (2004), ‘Govinda thanks the Gods, voters and fans’, Times of India, 31 May, http://www.timesofIndia.comGoogle Scholar
McKean, Lisa (1996), ‘Mother India and Her Militant Matriots’, in Hawley, John S. and Wulff, Donna M. (eds), Devī, Goddesses of India (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press), pp. 250280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mookerji, Ajit and Khanna, Madhu, The Tantric Way (London: Thames and Hudson), 1977.Google Scholar
Parliamentary Constituency: North Mumbai, Indian Elections, http://www.indian-elections.com/maharashtra/mumbai-north.htmlGoogle Scholar
Punekar, Vijaya B. (1959), The Son Koils of Bombay, (Bombay: Popular Book Depot).Google Scholar
Raghunathji (1900), The Hindu Temples of Bombay, (Bombay: Fort Printing Press), reprinted by Phiroze Ranade, Mumbai philanthropist and scholar in 2003.Google Scholar
Ranade, Phiroze (2004), Project: Worshipping Houses in the Greater Mumbai— Western Suburban Region. A Project for documentation, MMR-Heritage Conservation Society, Mumbai.Google Scholar
‘Temple on hill gets a facelift’, Bombay Times, 20 August 1996.Google Scholar
Thakurdesai, Prerana (2005), ‘Beaches experience effect of tsunami’, Midday, 5 January, Midday.comGoogle Scholar
Wallia, Kaajal (2003), ‘BMC seeks to give shrines tree-cover’, Times of India, 10 November, Times of India.com, accessed on June 2004.Google Scholar
Wangu, Madhu Bazaz (2003), Images of Indian Goddesses: Myths, Meanings and Models (Delhi: Abhinav Publications). http://www.mumbainet.com/travel/Mumbādevī.htmGoogle Scholar