Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Shaktism'

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Centre for Cultural Research, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

This thesis explores the cult and mythos of the goddess Kali both in her Eastern and Western contexts, comparing and contrasting them in order to gain a better understanding of the Western appropriations of Kali within feminist goddess spirituality. Utilizing a variety of methods, including ethnographic research conducted at Kali temples in California, this research is aimed at providing an entry into the lived contemporary tradition of the Western Kali within goddess spirituality circles, focusing on embodied experience, devotion, ritual, and syncretic practices. Kali, a fierce Indian goddess, is often seen in the Hindu context as a central manifestation of the all encompassing Mother Goddess (Mahadevi, Devi, Shakti, etc), and therefore is a particularly engaging example of contemporary Western appropriation of religious and cultural symbols and narratives. This thesis contributes to understanding Kali in her new North American domain, as well as serving as a case study of the shifting religious landscape in the West.

El presente trabajo se enmarca en parte de la historia del sur de la India, indaga en aspectos de la política, religión y arte predominantes, y se enfoca en investigar el papel religoso y social de la danza en los templos de Tamilnadu bajo el reinado de la dinastía Chola (de fines del siglo IX a mediados del siglo XIII). El principal objetivo de ésta investigación es establecer el papel de las esculturas de danza en el espacio sagrado del templo Hindú de la dinastía Chola. Este tipo de templo se fue conformando como una institución, que a través del desarrollo del arte sagrado incluyó y sistematizó antiguas culturas locales, articulándolas dentro de la más amplia tradición del Hinduismo. En éste proceso jugaron un papel preponderante la especulación filosófica Hindú, que logró armonizar la multiplicidad de cultos, propia del sur de India, con el concepto de Absoluto desarrollado en los Upanishads. Esta especulación toma forma a través del movimiento devocional de santos Bhakti, que fue un importante agente en la conformación del Hinduismo de la zona meridional.

Background: Pain may involve physical, emotional and psychological reactions. Chronic pain can lead to restrictions and problems in everyday life. One of the most common pain states is low back pain. A form of treatment that has been marketed as a charitable and pain reliefing alternative is the Shakti mat. Currently there are no studies on its effects published. Purpose: To see whether treatment with Shakti mat in a person with low back pain has an effect on the experience of the ability in activities of daily life and to see if the psychological factors will change. Method: The participant had to lie on a Shakti mat once a day for four weeks. The participant was asked to complete five questionnaires two weeks before, during intervention and two weeks after treatment. The Tampa Scale: a Measure of Kinesiophobia measures to what degree the participant experiencing pain for movement or to harm itself in motion, Coping Strategies Questionnaire - Catastrophizing scale investigating catastrophizing thoughts in connection with pain perception, Pain Disability Index investigates how the participants’ everyday affected/hampered by pain, Self-Efficacy Scale investigates how sure the participant is in his ability to carry out a task despite pain and a Self-monitoring diary where the perception of its ability in everyday activities, experience after treatment, the type of underlay and if the participant could lie longer on the Shakti mat were judged. Results: The participant’s pain in some everyday activities mitigated while the degree of ability in these increased after four weeks of treatment. The psychological factors had not changed much.

This study is a part of a poly generation project which will use animal waste or agricultural waste to produce biogas and will provide cooking gas, electricity and arsenic free clean water for drinking in rural areas of Bangladesh.  The study mainly analyzes the cooking and lighting energy demand of households across different income groups in a village named “Pani Para” in the Faridpur district in Bangladesh and also looks at the potential of biogas in the village. It has been done by adopting case study method and conducting a survey in the village using a questionnaire. Fuel mix across different income groups for meeting their cooking and lighting energy needs have also been studied along with socio-economic situation of the villagers and their preferences to change their current cooking fuel utilization patterns. Various scenarios like variation in fuel consumption patterns, priority of income expenditure and access to fuel with income level have been examined. The study also focuses to analyze the awareness of the villagers about biogas technology and their willingness to contribute for the poly generation project along with the willingness of households to pay for embracing change in current cooking and lighting fuels. Biomass potential i.e. cow dung and agricultural waste is also calculated in the surveyed village along with the production of biogas from the available biomass resources. The scenarios to provide the cooking gas, electricity and clean water through biogas poly generation project from the available resources are also investigated. Analysis reveals that the total energy consumption (cooking and lighting) increases with the increase in the income level among the households. Average household cooking and lighting energy demand by low, medium and high income groups is 8492 kWh/yr, 9789 kWh/yr and 14806 kWh/yr respectively. Cooking energy demand and agricultural waste consumption also show an increasing trend with the increase in land holding size. Among the income expenditure priorities food is one of the most important priorities and energy being less important due to availability of biomass at little or no cost. Awareness of biogas technology among the households and willingness to contribute for the poly generation plant shows an increasing trend with the increase in education level. The study shows that there is a positive response of the villagers for being willing to embrace the change in the current cooking patterns as well as welcoming new technologies that could support such a change. It was found that the cow dung resource in the village is not enough to produce sufficient biogas for the poly generation project. With the incorporation of the agricultural waste with the cow dung, biogas production comes quite close to requirement of the poly generation plant but however could not suffice it completely due to the lack of raw material in the studied village. In that case the scenario of providing electricity and clean water to all the villagers and providing all the three facilities to the 2/3rd of households is investigated. 1/3rd of the low income households then could meet their cooking demands by provision of improved cooking stoves as cooking gas could not be provided to them due to limited feedstock. The study shows that despite of the fact that cooking and lighting energy needs increase with income but there is not much variation in the fuel mix and almost everyone in the village rely on biomass to meet their energy demand. It is because there is very limited access to the modern fuel for cooking and no electricity access in the village, so the households have to rely on the traditional fuels.

KTH School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Department of Energy Technology, Division of Energy and Climate studies

La culture indienne a longtemps été identifiée à une philosophie où le monde n’est qu’illusion, où les sens s’avèrent trompeurs, et où, donc, il est nécessaire de se détacher du corps afin d’atteindre une réalité suprême, en dehors de ce monde. Pourtant, une courte immersion dans la réalité quotidienne de l’hindouisme, en particulier par rapport à sa forme dévotionnelle (bhakti) et au rituel de la pūjā s’y rattachant, laisse entendre tout le contraire. Le monde dévotionnel hindou s’avère en fait plongé dans un univers hautement incorporé et sensoriel. La présente thèse se donne pour objectif de réaliser la profondeur de cette nature incorporée et hautement sensorielle de la bhakti hindoue. C’est en envisageant l’utilisation des sens non seulement comme le résultat d’un apprentissage culturel, mais également comme le locus de la connaissance du monde, que la méthodologie proposée par l’anthropologie sensorielle nous permettra de réaliser l’ampleur du rôle joué par le sensorium dans la compréhension, l’acquisition et la communication avec le divin. Nous concentrerons cette étude sur la pūjā hebdomadaire effectuée par la communauté hindoue d’Ottawa au temple Vishva Shakti Durgā. Cette analyse révélera que c’est en utilisant ses sens que le dévot réussit à entrer en contact avec le divin et que c’est également en exploitant divers stimuli sensoriels que le divin réussit à se manifester et à s’incorporer au profit de ses dévots. Le sens de la vision se dévoilera l’un des plus importants dans cette interaction avec les divinités, particulièrement à travers le darśan, mais les autres sens s’avéreront eux aussi essentiels dans cette transaction avec le divin, notamment à travers la musique, les mantras, la prasād, ainsi que les diverses formes de toucher direct ou indirect avec la divinité. Somme toute, cette étude démontrera que la rencontre avec le divin nécessite en soi l’utilisation d’un sensorium sacré. Les diverses perceptions sensorielles engagées dans cette interaction parlent à la fois à la nature humaine et divine de l’être, et permettent dès lors à la vraie nature de l’humain d’entrer en contact avec la vraie et suprême réalité du divin (bhagwān/brahman).

Mesoscopic spin systems can be designed and fabricated using modern nano-fabrication techniques. These systems can contain large numbers of patterned ferromagnetic elements, for which the shape will generally determine their effective mesospin dimensionality. The lateral arrangement of these mesospins can be further used to tune the interactions between them. With an appropriate choice of material, it is possible to define a temperature range where thermal fluctuations of these mesospins are experimentally accessible. To actively define this range, we use δ-doped Palladium, a three-layer system of Palladium—Iron—Palladium, for which the Curie-temperature scales with the Iron layer thickness. The patterned mesoscopic elements used in this work have a stadium-like shape that promotes a single magnetic domain state, thus making these islands behave as one-dimensional Ising-like mesospins that can be observed using magnetic imaging techniques. We investigate the impact on the magnetic order resulting from modifications of the square spin ice geometry. By adding, removing and merging elements in the square artificial spin ice architecture, energy-landscape variations can be realized. Firstly, an added interaction modifier is used to equilibrate the interactions between the mesospins at the vertex level, which can restore the degenerate ground state of the square spin ice model. Secondly, the removal of elements can lead to topologically frustrated spin systems, as not all building blocks can simultaneously be in their lowest energy state. Furthermore, the merging results in multiple element sizes in the mesospin system. As the magnetization reversal barrier is dependent on the element size, these mesospin systems have different energy barriers. The thermal ordering process in such a system differs from a single-size element system with its unique energy barrier. Using reciprocal space analysis tools like the magnetic spin structure factor we show that systems with multiple element sizes achieve a higher short-range order then their single-size element references. The magnetic order in mesoscopic spin systems could successfully be tailored by modifications of the lattice geometry.

The temple of the Goddess Kamakhya in Assam is the pre-eminent site of Hindu Goddess worship. It is revered as the yoni pītha, the place where the generative organ of the Goddess is worshipped. This thesis, centred on Kamakhya, explores the Hindu tradition of Goddess worship, Saktism, and both the possibilities and contradictions it presents for women. The research was undertaken from a feminist standpoint and employed a framework that was collaborative, cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary. Six women co-researchers from India, the U.S. and Australia took part in a pilgrimage that simultaneously explored the Kamakhya site, its history, symbols, myths and customs, alongside our own personal understandings of Saktism and its role in women’s spiritual empowerment. Our aim, in the face of contradictory evidence about the impact of Goddess traditions on the status of Hindu women, was to try to bridge cultural differences of interpretation and develop feminist readings of what may be enabling for women. The thesis establishes the basis of our collective fascination with Sakti, which denotes both the Goddess and the cosmic power she personifies. Through a combination of narrative, exposition of Indian sources and critical cultural analysis, I present our deliberations on the rich tapestry of themes we encountered. From the outset the thesis problematises the cross-cultural encounter and continues this frame throughout. The voices of the principal co-researchers emerge as they co-constitute the research, its methods and its implementation. Their central role is confirmed as the inquiry proceeds. Following the path of my preliminary encounters with the Goddess and with the co-researchers, pilgrimage is established as a traditional means of encountering the Goddess and, in the form we constructed, as a key experiential dimension of the research. In the encounter with Kamakhya, her dual persona as Mother Goddess and Goddess of Love is elaborated. The meanings and origins of both these aspects, their integration through the concept of srsti cosmic creation, and the implications for women of their associated practices of worship are explored at length. Finally, in light of the pilgrimage, I re-consider conjunctions between Saktism, feminist perspectives on women’s empowerment and theological horizons.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The temple of the Goddess Kāmākhyā a in Assam is the pre-eminent site of Hindu Goddess worship. It is revered as the yoni pīṭha, the place where the generative organ of the Goddess is worshipped. This thesis, centred on Kāmākhyā a, explores the Hindu tradition of Goddess worship, Śāktism, and both the possibilities and contradictions it presents for women. The research was undertaken from a feminist standpoint and employed a framework that was collaborative, cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary. Six women co-researchers from India, the U.S. and Australia took part in a pilgrimage that simultaneously explored the Kāmākhyā a site, its history, symbols, myths and customs, alongside our own personal understandings of Śāktism and its role in women’s spiritual empowerment. Our aim, in the face of contradictory evidence about the impact of Goddess traditions on the status of Hindu women, was to try to bridge cultural differences of interpretation and develop feminist readings of what may be enabling for women. The thesis establishes the basis of our collective fascination with Śakti, which denotes both the Goddess and the cosmic power she personifies. Through a combination of narrative, exposition of Indian sources and critical cultural analysis, I present our deliberations on the rich tapestry of themes we encountered. From the outset the thesis problematises the cross-cultural encounter and continues this frame throughout. The voices of the principal co-researchers emerge as they co-constitute the research, its methods and its implementation. Their central role is confirmed as the inquiry proceeds. Following the path of my preliminary encounters with the Goddess and with the co-researchers, pilgrimage is established as a traditional means of encountering the Goddess and, in the form we constructed, as a key experiential dimension of the research. In the encounter with Kāmākhyā a, her dual persona as Mother Goddess and Goddess of Love is elaborated. The meanings and origins of both these aspects, their integration through the concept of sŗșṭi, cosmic creation, and the implications for women of their associated practices of worship are explored at length. Finally, in light of the pilgrimage, I re-consider conjunctions between Śāktism, feminist perspectives on women’s empowerment and theological horizons.

With increasing international concern for both the corporate social responsibility of businesses and the market-compatibility of charitable projects, a new field is sparking interest in government, business and academic circles. The burgeoning field of ‘social enterprise’ incorporates a variety of organisations which attempt to tap into the potential of business and nonprofit ventures, with their dual social and financial goals, or ‘double bottom-line’. The literature concerning social enterprise is still in the early stages of development, with much focus on the economic debates but considerably less attention to the political aspects that influence and drive the field. This is especially true for social enterprises in developing countries. In order to help fill this gap in the literature, the thesis uses an ‘everyday IPE’ (International Political Economy) lens to explore and assess ‘Grameen Shakti’, an energy-focused social enterprise from Bangladesh. In-depth analysis of this case study reveals the ways that Grameen Shakti has been able to ‘resist’ the energy development history of Bangladesh, with its alternative focus on decentralised, renewable energy solutions for rural households. In terms of its sales-based dissemination of energy technologies like the solar home system, Grameen Shakti has made considerable strides forward. The social enterprise’s dual focus on both financial and social goals, however, has meant that it has not been as successful with its less financially-rewarding technologies and sales initiatives. Furthermore, the analysis shows that Grameen Shakti’s product-oriented approach is not sufficient for addressing embedded local socio-political energy issues, such as the gendered energy inequalities surrounding land use and fuelwood supply. In summary, while Grameen Shakti does step outside the conventional boundaries of energy development in Bangladesh, and has made significant progress in addressing rural energy needs, its focus on market-compatible energy solutions means that it is an incomplete solution to rural energy development. In itself, this finding is not problematic, as a social enterprise like Grameen Shakti could still be considered a valuable piece in the development puzzle. It is when we consider the national and international political contexts, however, that the broader causes and consequences of Grameen Shakti’s choices become apparent. With an analysis of the political economy of development in Bangladesh, the thesis reveals how social enterprises like Grameen Shakti have been used by powerful national and international actors, such as the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, to direct the development sector as a whole towards more market-compatible, and less politically sensitive, development issues. Consequently, it may be argued that social enterprises in Bangladesh and other developing countries are helping to legitimise the marginalisation of the types of development solutions and organisations that may be better able to challenge structural political inequalities and mobilise for social change. In this way, the social enterprise field is part of a broader, global contestation between neoliberal and counter-hegemonic agendas, with individual social enterprises (in both developing and western countries) contributing to this scenario with varying degrees of resistance, complicity and awareness. Currently though, with the social enterprise literature being dominated by the economics of social entrepreneurship, political issues such as this are not being sufficiently studied or debated. The thesis ends, then, with a call for more ‘everyday IPE’ analyses of social enterprises in a variety of contexts: to gain a more nuanced understanding of these significant political dimensions and to create a social enterprise discourse that better reflects the diversity in the field.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2013

The threat of global warming is bringing a new pro-environmental paradigm all over the world under the Kyoto Protocol. Addressing climate change is beneficial to all countries because environment is global public good. However, because global warming is also closely related to each country’s specific condition such as industrial development and political situation, prudent approaches considering different situations of each country are required in order prevent unintended negative consequences. This study focuses on the weakness of the current CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) in terms of impeding sustainable development in LDCs (Least Development Countries). As a case study, the Grameen Shakti Program in Bangladesh demonstrates the potential scenario of sustainable development in LDCs through CDM markets and a new financial model of CERs (Certified Emissions Reductions) is suggested to support and replicate the Grameen Shakti Program other LDCs.
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