Singing the Goddess into Place

Caleb Simmons has written a compelling study that sheds light on a local tradition of wider importance and bears broad significance to the study of religion in South Asia, with a particular contribution to the much-neglected subject of popular religious ballads (sometimes referred to as 'oral epics' or 'folk narratives'). The Kannada-speaking culture is known for its originality and richness but also for being woefully understudied. This book brings to light the rich local culture of Mysore, a necessary stop on a scholar's path that few write about, and thereby fills a real gap in the study of the region by illuminating a neglected hinterland between ethnography and textual studies. - Gil Ben-Herut, author of Siva's Saints: The Origins of Devotion in Kannada according to Harihara's Ragalegalu The strength of the book is also the interest of the ballad under review; it shows a Mysore-centric goddess tradition in which the fortunes of the kings and their people are woven together in an elite and popular, or high and low (as the author frames the distinction), whole. The inclusion in the ballad of roads, places, social customs, clothing styles, and foods specific to Mysore situates the Goddess; she takes place, or makes her place, in Mysore. This book will be assigned in courses on Hinduism or South India, probably in religion departments and for undergraduates. - Rachel Fell McDermott, author of Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals