Camunda's Glory: Representations of the Fierce Goddess in Puranic Literature and Indian (Temple) Art

The dissertation will investigate the iconography and development of fierce goddesses in Hinduism. These wrathful goddesses are known under various names, most popularly Camunda, and constitute the Camunda-type. They are said to reside on the cremation grounds, and they usually feature, for instance, an emaciated body, a gruesome visage, and a corpse as vehicle. Among their attributes are skull garlands and skull cups. As representations of the divine, they embody the sacred as female, independent, powerful, and drastically fierce.
Believed to be of 'tribal' origin, the Camunda-type became increasingly prominent from the fifth century onward, both in literature and art. This dissertation intends to delineate a developmental narrative for the Camunda-type through the lens of iconography by analysing selected pertinent texts and instances of Indian temple art.
The textual work will be grounded in samples from Puranic lore, and the visual evidence will focus on medieval temple sculptures from North and Central India, i.e. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The notion of the terrifying goddess is not entirely unknown to some of the earliest scriptures such as the Vedas and Epics. However, the Puranas, a group of texts compiled from around the third century AD, include terrifying goddesses more frequently and provide narratives for them. The process in which local or indigenous notions of goddesses have entered the broader pantheon perpetuated by Brahmanic mythology and practices becomes apparent in this period. This inclusion and Puranic approval of the wild goddess phenomenon is a crucial moment in her identity.
The increasing acceptance and popularity of the Camunda-type on a pan-Indian scale is reflected not only in literature but also demonstrated by the numerous representations in temples throughout the subcontinent, especially in their early stages as part of a set of mother goddesses. Two main areas of the goddess's depiction are Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Here, we find some of the earliest and most elaborate portrayals of her as one of the seven or eight mothers, an independently worshipped goddess, and a yogini. A survey of temples in those regions will attempt to reveal possible dynastic, regional and sectarian preferences (or similarities) as well as clarify her relation to other deities. The sculptures will be viewed in their temple setting, with an emphasis on space and meaning.
The iconographic types, extrapolated from textual and visual material, will be juxtaposed to detect if and to what degree texts and images operate interdependently and to what effects. The resulting findings will then allow for an exploration of broader historical developments and circumstances in which the Camunda-type goddess thrived, particularly the process in which she gained access into a pan-Indian pantheon as the fierce aspect of the universal Great Goddess.