The Lajjāgaurī and Anandanāyakī

A New Light on the Nature and Worship of the Ᾱdi-Mātā, the Primordial Mother

By Ramācandra Cintāmaṇ Ḍhere
Translated by Jayant Bhalchandra Bāpaṭ 

R. C. Dhere’s Lajjāgaurī is a classic work of scholarship on Hindu goddesses. Exploring the meaning of the Lajjāgaurī image, Dhere engages in an extensive discussion of sexual imagery and fertility cults in India. He also makes Lajjāgaurī a springboard for elucidating the cults of other important goddesses such as Renukā, Yellammā, Aditi, and a variety of folk goddesses, as well as the male deities Jotibā and Subrahmaṇya. Long beloved by Marathi readers, the book appears here in English for the first time. By making it more widely accessible, Jayant Bapat has performed a great service to Indologists throughout India and the world. Anne Feldhaus, Foundation Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University, USA

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