THE ICONIC FEMALE. GODDESSES OF INDIA, NEPAL AND TIBET. Ed. by Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat and Ian Mabbett. Melbourne: Monash Asia Institute, 2008. 230 p.*

The reviewed collection was prepared on the basis of the Institute of Asia. Monash in Melbourne. In modern Australia, indological science is experiencing a significant upswing: one of the factors is the growing South Asian diaspora in the country. The theme of the research included in the collection - female deities in South Asian countries-allows the authors to go far beyond the actual religious studies, which makes the book interesting for anyone who deals with the history, politics, anthropology and philosophy of South Asia.

An introduction written jointly by two senior editors is particularly important for indologists, no matter what they do. Using the cult of female deities as an example, it examines the actual problems of methodology, which has undergone a radical transformation in recent decades. The orientalist approach, which assumed the study of South Asian societies only on the basis of classical texts, was replaced by an anthropological one, which assumed "included observation" of living carriers of the studied cultures. Another Orientalist postulate, which reduced the religion or culture of a country to a "Large", i.e. orthodox-Brahman, tradition, reconstructed on the basis of the same classical texts, and considered all unorthodox, "popular" practices and views as marginal, was rejected. The attention of researchers has long been captured by these socially subordinate (subaltern) social groups and their previously considered "primitive" norms of social, cultural and religious existence. If earlier a scholar engaged in Hinduism studied religious, philosophical and didactic treatises in Sanskrit, now, according to new ideas ,the "true essence of Hinduism" could be understood only as a result of field research of some "folk" cult. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons in our country, the study of Indian religions has not gone beyond the scope of working with texts: one of the few, if not the only, attempts to reach new methodological frontiers in the study of Hinduism was the collective monograph "The Tree of Hinduism" edited by I. P. Glushkova (1999).

In the introductory article to the book ("Contextualizing the goddess"), J. B. Bapat and I. Mabbett, setting out the existing directions in the study of the cult of goddesses in South Asian religions, show, in my opinion, a more balanced, well-founded understanding of the research methodology and the stated topic, and South Asian cultures in general. Rejecting the extremes of both textual and anthropological approaches, the authors emphasize that " the Brahmin or Sanskrit worldview and religious manifestations of local folk cultures do not come from disparately different sources and do not belong to different worlds: they have interacted for thousands of years, creating a kaleidoscope of forms that do not lend themselves to easy categorization and in different historical epochs change their places in the general scheme" (p. 4-5).

A similar approach works its way in the works of other indologists, who refuse, for example, to separate the "elite" culture (or literature) from the "popular"one with an impenetrable wall, as was previously accepted. The authors emphasize how much it can be

* An iconic woman. Goddesses of India, Nepal and Tibet / Ed. By Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat and Ian Mabbet. Melbourne: Asia Institute. Monash, 2008. 230 p.

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the hypertrophied focus on one methodology, one cultural process, or one social stratum is dangerous for objective research, as the proponents of the study of "subordinate groups" (subaltern studies) demand, uncompromisingly rejecting everything related to "elites"as a subject of research. "Our understanding of the culture of one often marginalized group," the authors note, " can benefit unconditionally if the study is based solely on it; but, on the other hand, when a bright light shines on the dark corners of society, its former center may lose its clarity and subtlety of texture. In the case of Hinduism, cultural forms associated with Brahmin traditions and canonical texts may seem irrelevant even where they have significant influence " (p. 8).

The advantage of the collection is its interdisciplinary nature. Of course, the call of the authors of the introduction to combine different methodologies could not be equally perceived and implemented by all project participants. Several authors followed the traditional textual approach: for example, G. Bailey ("Pārvat as creator of māyā or victim of māyā: the role of mother") studied the image of the goddess Parvati based on the medieval "Ganeshapurana"; R. Desai ("When was not a goddess"), also based on the epic and puranas, devoted her work to Renuka - one of the interesting characters of the Mahabharata, the wife of the sage Jamadagni, beheaded for adultery (in my thoughts!) by his son Parashurama at the order of his father and then revived by her husband at the request of the same son. In the epic and other Sanskrit texts, Renuka appears as a submissive and silent woman, while in a number of folk cults she has become a goddess worshipped in temples. The author analyzes here the interweaving of " big (Sanskrit)" and "small (folklore)" traditions.

The texts are also based on studies of two other female deities: Devi, who embodies divine energy in the theory and practice of tantra (J. R. Dupuch and tantric practice"), and travels from India to Tibet of folklore dakinis-terrible demigodesses-half-witches who inhabited cremation grounds in the popular imagination (D. Templeman "The in Tibetan hagiography").).

Two articles in the collection represent cultural anthropology that has become no less traditional than text-based research. E. George ("Songs in the presence of Mammai") presented the results of several expeditions to study the local goddess Mammai Mataji, who is worshipped in western Gujarat by the Rabari pastoral caste. The temple of this goddess, which has existed since the 18th century, attracts pilgrims from other regions and castes during temple festivals, accompanied by the performance of special songs by women, carefully recorded by the researcher. Unfortunately, most of the material collected by the author has not been analyzed: the article is mostly descriptive.

The Temple of modern Mumbai: communal harmony and the Goddess by M. Vizhiani and J. B. Bapat also belongs to the same genre. on the temple of Khada devi, the patroness of the Koli fishing caste in present-day Mumbai (Bombay), to a much greater extent than the work of E. George, combines anthropological description and historical-sociological analysis.

The articles by A. A. di Castro, J. B. Bapat, and M. Harcourt are of a more pronounced interdisciplinary nature. J. B. Bapat ("The mother, wife or yogini"), exploring the curious cult of the goddess Lajjagauri-Shy (by name or "shameless" by iconographic image) Gauri (aka Parvati, Durga, etc., the wife of Shiva), successfully combines archaeological, art and textual approaches, as well as draws on anthropological research.

Studying the archaeological evidence of the mother goddess cult from the earliest times to the Mauryan era (IV-II centuries BC), A. A. di Castro ("Archeology of the goddess: an Indian paradox") draws conclusions that go far beyond the scope of his research. On the basis of extensive material, he proves the "absence of geographical and temporal continuity, as well as cultural unity" of the religious phenomenon under study, and calls on indologists to doubt those phenomena and processes in Indian culture that seem (in many cases thanks to the conscious efforts of editors and interpreters) to be an unchangeable, continuous tradition: the "identity" between the early and modern religions of the later phenomena may be apparent and hide the discreteness of development, changes in time. "Historically speaking, we cannot understand Vedic ritual by studying medieval tantras, although the presence of certain elements, symbols, or ideas found in the Atharva Veda can be traced to later Tantric traditions" (p. 38).

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Historicism, which is very rare for the study of religious cults, and a successful combination of textual and anthropological methodology make M. Harcourt's article "lion herders: bards and bardic goddesses and the moral requlation of power in late-medieval Rajasthan" very informative for both religious scholars and medieval historians) on religious practice and "morally regulating" activities of charans-hereditary bards who recorded and made public (orally and in writing) both praiseworthy and reprehensible acts of medieval Rajput clans.

The material presented by our Australian colleagues and methodological approaches to it are interesting and instructive in many ways. In general, the reviewed collection is an interdisciplinary study of a very high scientific level; it is useful for both indologists and orientalists of other specialties to get acquainted with it.

BOOKS ON ORIENTAL STUDIES PUBLISHED BY MOSCOW PUBLISHERS IN 2009.*

Shastitko P. V. The century is gone. Scenes from the history of otech. Oriental Studies: Eastern Literature. 367 p. Shatapatha-brahmana. Book 1, book TO (fragment) / Transl., introductory articles and notes by V. N. Romanov; Ed. by V. V. Vertogradov: East lit. 383 p.

Shaub I. Y., Andersen V. Greco-Persian Wars: Yauza; Eksmo. 285 p. (Wars of Swords). Shipilov S. B. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation: Formation, Development, prospects (1989-2007): East-West. 268 p.

Shirokorad A. B. Voina i mir Zakavkazya za posledniye treti thousand let [War and peace of Transcaucasia in the last three thousand years]. ACT. 479 p. (Unknown. wars).

Shirokorad A. B. Turkey. Five centuries of confrontation: Veche. 399 pages. (Friends and enemies of Russia).

Schliemann G. Ilion. Gorod i strana troyantsev [City and Country of Trojans], vol. 2, translated from English: Tsentrpoligraf, 543 p.

Srivastava Si. P. Corruption is India's internal enemy: Izvestia. 224 p.

Shurlov S. A. The Iraqi Trap for the USA: Yauza; Eksmo. 319 p. (Wars of the XXI century).

Shutov V. N. Anatomiya mirovykh religii: proshlo, nastoyashchee, budushchee [Anatomy of World Religions: past, Present, and Future]. 596 p.

Sheng Yue. Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution. Memoirs / Translated from English by L. I. Golovacheva, V. Ts Golovacheva: Kraft+. 319 p.

Shcheka Yu. V. Turkish-Russian dictionary. About 30,000 words and phrases : ACT et al. 444 p. (Biblio).

Shcherbatova O. A. In the land of volcanoes. Travel notes in Java 1893 With geogr., ist. and polit., review of Malaya, archipelago and Java by Princess O. A. Shcherbatova author. "On India and Ceylon" Past: Archivist. 254 pages. (The world through the eyes of Russians: South-East. Asia).

Alford A. Pyramid of Secrets. A look at architecture. Vel. pyramids from the point of view of creationist mythology / Translated from English: Veche. 446 p.

Alford A. F. The Midnight Sun. The Death and Rebirth of God in Ancient Times. Translated from English by E. B. Makhiyanova: Veche, 398 p. Energy cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea. IX Russian-Cor. forum / Ed. by A. N. Panov (editor-in-chief) and others: East-West. 246 p.

Epshtein A.D. Antiterrorist terror. Israel's "targeted elimination" of Palestinian leaders. Political, legal and moral issues. Aspects: In-t Blizh. Of the East. 134 p.

Languages of the world. Semitic languages: Akkadian. Severo-Zapadnosemitskiye yazyki [Northwestern Semitic languages]. 836 p.

Yakovenko E. V. Textbook of the Arabic language for continuing students. Textbook for universities, Book 1: Eastern Literature. 816c. Japan. How to understand it. Ocherki sovr. yap. kul'tury [Essays of Modern Japanese culture] / Translated from English; Edited by R. J. Davis, Osamu Ikeno: ACT; Astrel. 318 p.

Japan of our days. Quarterly collection 2009. N 1: IDV RAS. 150 p.

Japan in the Heian period (794-1185). Anthology / Comp., introduction, translated from drevnejap. and commentary by M. V. Grachev; Edited by I. S. Smirnov. RSUH. 426 p. (Orientaia et classica. Tr. Ai-ta east. cultures and antiquity. Issue 24).

* Ending. For the beginning, see: East (Oriens). 2010. N 5, 6; 2011. N 1.

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