Himalayan Pantheon – Daniel B. Haber

Visitors to Nepal, particularly Westerners, may find the large pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped in this tiny Himalayan country by Hindus, Buddhists and animists bewildering. This small book is a pocket guide to the predominant religious iconography in the Himalayan kingdom and the temples and festivals associated with them. Some people may be put off by what they consider to be the vast number of “idols? and bloody sacrifices, while others may be seduced by the exoticism of it all. Without making any cultural value judgements, the present work attempts to identify and explain the chief deities worshipped in Nepal.
Who is the prepubescent “living goddess? and why is she worshipped? Who are the phallic deities worshipped for fertility? Which are the horrific deities offered animal sacrifices? Who is the goddess that bestows good luck? The goddess that bestows knowledge, whose symbol is the six-pointed star? What is a Bodhisattva?
These are some of the topics covered in this little book. Although Nepal is nominally a Hindu kingdom, those coming from India may also find Nepal’s religious iconography quite different from its southern neighbor.
Himalayan Pantheon – Daniel B. Haber