Gender, Religion and Local History: The Early Deccan straddles two areas of research, namely the study of women in a socio-religious context and images of the feminine that emerged as objects of worship. Based on a study of inscriptions, sculptural representations and archaeological and literary sources, the research in this volume is located in different local contexts that focus on gender and ideology in order to discern the dynamics of social change.

The seven chapters of the volume address diverse religious spaces—from the folk of the Lajja Gauris to the temple-based Hinduism of the nityasumangali and Chenchu Laksmi, from the evolution of orthodox Jaina attitudes to women’s access to sallekhana and to the expanding Buddhist religious milieu in the midst of vibrant mithuna couples. This work demonstrates that ideology in local contexts was always open to adjustments and negotiation, while concomitantly being linked to pan-Indian conceptual foundations.

With a significant number of illustrations, this volume creates a web of local histories that focus on gender to enhance our understanding of resistance, transformation and continual change in the making of social, religious and cultural identities in communities of the early Deccan.