Mountain Goddess

"...Mountain Goddess is a powerful and compelling study of politics, gender and ritual in the central Himalayas, one that will surely inspire other attempts to explicate the politics of South Asian ritual and cultural interpretation."--History of Religions "Perfect for my course in anthropology because of its treatment of kinship groups, ritual and politics."--Elaine Mayer, Salve Regina University "The writing is fluid and full of information. What impressed me most is the greedy attitude of so-called priests who have made the Hindu religion beyond reach for much of the population. Sax's book brings this point across wonderfully."--L.G. Tewan, Sonoma State University "I strongly recommend Mountain Goddess. It is the product of long and careful fieldwork and textual research, valuable for its beautiful translations, its ethnographic and analytic contributions, and above all for the integration of these."--Ann Grodzins Gold, Cornell University "A sensitive and insightful study."--F.W. Blackwell, Washington State University "The Royal Pilgrimage chapter deserves a place beside McKim Marriott's 'The Feast of Love' (1966) as one of the finest pieces on the ironies of participant observation in South Asia."--Committee on Women in Asian Studies Newsletter "This is a valuable multidisciplinary contribution to South Asian studies and anthropological theory....[Sax's] rich and often humorous ethnographic description renders the book highly enjoyable reading for the layperson and expert alike. Together with its topicality, sound methodology, and affordability, Mountain Goddess would be an excellent choice for those who wish to provide students with a colorful insider's view of Indian culture, in general, and an important pilgrimage tradition, in particular."--The Journal of Asian Studies