A Critical Analysis Of Bhima Bhoi And The Mahima Cult

A Critical Analysis of Bhima Bhoi and the Mahima Cult is a rare compendium of insightful essays by eminent Indian scholars on the Mahima Cult, its genesis, and its growth. The volume focuses on Bhima Bhoi, the poet-philosopher and the prime interlocutor of the Renegade Faith, who started a revolt from below to champion human rights. To critically appreciate the Saint-poet Bhima Bhoi and the Mahima Cult (Dharma of Glory), the history of the 19th-century Indian sociocultural system, especially that of Odisha and its adjoining states, needs to be reconstructed. Since there is no surviving oral and written text authored by the founder of the cult, Mahima Swami, it is only the unlettered genius Bhima Bhoi, who produced innumerable prayers, hymns, and poetic recitals of profound philosophical import, which made him the legend, the poet-archivist, and historiographer of the Mahima Cult. Bhima was simultaneously the poet of the soul and the soil, who used theology and social experience to provide a supportive sub-structure to a transcendent, ecstatic vision. This volume asserts that Mahima Dharma is an autochthonous reform movement and a regional variation of the Indian Bhakti tradition and mystical poetry.

Study of Mahima Dharma and other religions in Orissa.

Beginning With The Premise That Any Pursuit Of An Indian Identity In The `Narrow` Terms Of Hinduness Is A Radical Distortion, Hinduism In Public And Private Surveys The Phenomenon Of Religious Reform Movements Within The Larger Paradigm Of Modernization, And In Tandem With The Ideas Of Nationalism And Hindutva. The Essays Analyse The Reasons Behind The Possible Need For A New Kind Of Social Integration Within The Hindu Community In India.

On the devotional poetry of Bhima Bhoi, 1852-1895, Oriya poet of the Alekha cult; contributed articles.

This book constructs an anthropological history of a subaltern religious formation, Mahima Dharma of Orissa, a large province in eastern India. Tracking the contingent making of a critical community over a hundred and forty year period, ‘Religion, Law and Power’ explores the interplay of distinct expressions of time and history, innovative reformulations of caste and Hinduism and distinct engagements with state and nation. This serves to unravel the wider entanglements of religion, history, law, modernity and power.

The Essays Capture The Changing Contours Of Orissan Society, Economy, Religions, Cultural Life And Art Expressions. It Embraces Diverse Specificities From Every Epoch Of Orissan History And Focuses On Its Archaeological Remains, Ancient Maritime Activities, Vaisnavite Sculptures, Etc.