The Man from Chinnamasta
Encyclopedia
The Man from Chinnamasta is a novel published in 2005 and written by Indira Goswami, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award
in 1983, the Jnanpith Award
in 2001 and the Prince Claus Awards
in 2008. Set in pre-independence British Assam, it was written with a specific political vision : to exhort her readers to protest against the practice of animal sacrifice in the ancient Kamakhya Temple
in Assam. Once published, it took Assam by storm because of its subversive nature. The Brahmins especially took offence for her frank demand to remove an ancient practice in the most important Shakti
temple of the world. Set in the times of unrest and turmoil at the turn of the twentieth century, the novel paints the hoary history of Assam's most famous temple of the Sakta cult, Kamakhya
.
of the Kamakhya Temple
in Assam. Ratnadhar and Bidhibala's -the child widow's- story runs parallel to this narrative. Ratnadhar oraganises a signature campaign against the practice and faces many troubles in the process.
and Kalika Purana furnishes to animal sacrifice.
Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
in 1983, the Jnanpith Award
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country...
in 2001 and the Prince Claus Awards
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
in 2008. Set in pre-independence British Assam, it was written with a specific political vision : to exhort her readers to protest against the practice of animal sacrifice in the ancient Kamakhya Temple
Kamakhya Temple
The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peeth temple situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of individual temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi,...
in Assam. Once published, it took Assam by storm because of its subversive nature. The Brahmins especially took offence for her frank demand to remove an ancient practice in the most important Shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
temple of the world. Set in the times of unrest and turmoil at the turn of the twentieth century, the novel paints the hoary history of Assam's most famous temple of the Sakta cult, Kamakhya
Kamakhya
Kamakhya is an important Tantric mother goddess closely identified with Kali and Maha Tripura Sundari, according to the Tantric texts that are the basis for her worship at the Kamakhya temple, a 16th century temple in the Kamrup district of Assam...
.
Plot
The novel follows the relationship of Dorothy Brown, British woman in Assam and her relationship with a tantricTantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
of the Kamakhya Temple
Kamakhya Temple
The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peeth temple situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of individual temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi,...
in Assam. Ratnadhar and Bidhibala's -the child widow's- story runs parallel to this narrative. Ratnadhar oraganises a signature campaign against the practice and faces many troubles in the process.
Significance
The novel is also a scholarly account of Indira Goswami's quest and hard work. The Man from Chinnamasta, the tantric who is the protagonist, constantly discusses the ancient Sanskrit scriptures and substantiates his demand to stop animal sacrifice. He demonstrates the various alternatives that Debi Bhagavat, Yogini TantraYogini Tantra
Yogini Tantra is a voluminous Tantra that is especially important in the vamachara form of tantric worship. It is dedicated to the worship of Kali and Kamakhya. The work was composed in Assam, and generally contains some historical information....
and Kalika Purana furnishes to animal sacrifice.