Guest guest Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 You are referring to one of the ten Mahavidyas, Matangi, or "Ucchista-Matangi". the Goddess of Leftovers. She is worshiped with leftover food (considered intensely polluting in India) by people who are also polluted (they have not washed their hands or rinsed their mouths after eating) She is also said to be Saraswati incarnated as the daughter of the Shudra sage Matanga, and the advisor of Tripura-Sundari. She is depicted as beautiful, green-skinned, playing a ruby-studded vina, and accompanied by a green parrot. According to David Kinsley in his book on the Ten Mahavidyas, there is a curious village custom of one woman in the village, of low caste, who holds the office of being the village "matangi". At festivals, she gets drunk, curses at people, spits on them, dances wildly, and pushes people around with her backside. People go out of their way at this time to be abused by the matangi, even the Brahmins. This is vaguely reminiscent of the Saturnalia festivals, where masters would wait on slaves and everything would be topsy-turvy for a few days. For more info, I can recommend the book, in fact he has written a number of them, and they are all very good. They should be readily findable on the Net. Lilith M. --- "N. Madasamy" <nmadasamy wrote: > > I've heard that among the devi, one eat the left > over of others. > Will you please give me more information about it > please. > > Guest :"TARA" Check out the new Front Page. www. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 "Among the devi" -- what do you mean? Between two Goddesses? I've never actually had a meal with several Goddesses. Are you talking about Prasad? During Puja, food is offered to the Deity. Afterwards, the worshipper(s) consume the offered food (which is called prasad). One might consider this a case of humans eating the leftovers of the Gods/Goddesses. -- Len/ Kalipadma On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:18:04 -0000 "N. Madasamy" <nmadasamy writes: > > > I've heard that among the devi, one eat the left over of others. > Will you please give me more information about it please. > > Guest :"TARA" ------------------------ Sponsor > --------------------~--> > Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Companion Toolbar. > Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! > http://us.click./L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XUWolB/TM > --~-> > > > > Links > > > > > > > > ______________ Juno Platinum $9.95. Juno SpeedBand $14.95. Sign up for Juno Today at http://www.juno.com! Look for special offers at Best Buy stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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