Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Notes on Transliteration

Introduction

1.  Pūjā Origins and Elite Politics

2.  The Goddess in Colonial and Postcolonial History

3.  Durgā the Daughter: Folk and Familial Traditions

4.  The Artistry of Durgā and Jagaddhātrī

5.  Durgā on the Titanic: Politics and Religion in the Pūjā

6.  The “Orientalist” Kālī: A Tantric Icon Comes Alive

7.  Approaches to Kālī Pūjā in Bengal

8.  Controversies and the Goddess

9.  Devī in the Diaspora

Conclusion

Appendix: An Overview of the Press in Bengal up to 1947

Notes

Bibliography

Index