Devi: The Great Goddess. Female Divinity in South Asian Art. By Vidya Dehejia. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad and Prestel Veriag, Munich, 1999. 408 pp. $85.00 (cloth).

Abstract

This is a publication which accompanies the first major exhibition ever held on India's cultural and religious contrasts, documents artifacts from 36 different collections in the United States, England and Switzerland, which originally come from sites in India, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China dating from 100 BC to the present day. Through over a hundred diverse examples of Devi's images and a collection of essays many facets of Devi worship and tradition are explored, including ritual, architectuire, literature, history and contemporary issues such as feminism anmd gender politics.