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Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena

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Abstract

Neither the goddess Haḍimbā of the Western Himalayan Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh nor the frequent animal sacrifices that are offered to her are presented as Tantric by her devotees. The heated controversy in the region over the legitimacy of these sacrifices is also not interpreted in association with Tantra. However, if we situate both Haḍimbā and the controversy over sacrifices to her in a broader context, it becomes evident that this is but a stage in a lengthy process of negotiation between peripheral mountain religion and mainstream Brāhmaṇic Hindu ideals. It also becomes apparent that these negotiations are quite similar to those that took place in Assam in the eighth century and that gave rise to and shaped Tantra there. If the processes are indeed similar, this could reveal that Haḍimbā is a Tantric goddess after all or, at least, that the sacrifices made to her by the kings of Kullu are based in the logic of Tantric rituals of power.

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  1. Department of East Asian Studies, Tel-Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ehud Halperin

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  1. Ehud Halperin
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Correspondence to Ehud Halperin.

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Halperin, E. Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena. Hindu Studies 23, 195–212 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-019-09259-y

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