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@article{ART002350150},
author={Mohan Doss},
title={Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu},
journal={Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences},
issn={1598-4230},
year={2018},
number={59},
pages={43-56},
doi={10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003}

TY - JOUR
AU - Mohan Doss
TI - Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu
JO - Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences
PY - 2018
VL - null
IS - 59
PB - Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
SP - 43
EP - 56
SN - 1598-4230
AB - The paper, after making a few preliminary observations and briefly spelling out the relationship between classical and folk religious traditions in India, describes some of the salient features of folk religion as an “otherness.” The second part of the paper analyzes religious narratives about the origins of village/folk deities, particularly in South Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India. It is shown that most of the folk deities are women who as human beings met untimely and/or unnatural deaths. The victims of unjust social structures, they metamorphosed into spirits of extraordinary power who in their divinized incarnations became powerful guardians of their communities capable of alleviating the hardships of their devotees. The paper concludes that religious stories of folk deities often serve as border zones in which a transition from the social world of humans to the mythical realm of deities takes place in the textual and oral space of mutual interaction.
KW - Folk Religion;Folk Deities;Tamil Folk Deities;Origins of Folk Cults;Cultural Anthropology;Village Deities
DO - 10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003
ER -

Mohan Doss. (2018). Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu. Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 59, 43-56.

Mohan Doss. 2018, "Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu", Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, no.59, pp.43-56. Available from: doi:10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss "Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu" Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences 59 pp.43-56 (2018) : 43.

Mohan Doss. Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu. 2018; 59 : 43-56. Available from: doi:10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss. "Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu" Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences no.59(2018) : 43-56.doi: 10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss. Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu. Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 59, 43-56. doi: 10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss. Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu. Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 59 43-56. doi: 10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss. Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu. 2018; 59 : 43-56. Available from: doi:10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003

Mohan Doss. "Gods of the Soil: An Exploration into the Origins of the Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu" Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences no.59(2018) : 43-56.doi: 10.17939/hushss.2018..59.003