The empowering image of the divine mother: A South African Hindu woman worshipping the goddess

Abstract

The worship of the Mother Goddess by Hindu women in KwaZulu‐Natal is very popular, as an ongoing daily devotion, as well as at the Goddess's various annual festivals, especially the Draupadi firewalking festival. A crucial question is how far this veneration of a powerful female deity brings empowerment, both to a woman's sense of her own worth and as recognition in the community. Pat Pillay, of Pietermaritzburg, is an example of a woman with little education or social and economic status, whose devotion to the Goddess has brought her a considerable sense of personal empowerment and social recognition, as well as offering healing to numbers of women in her community. It has also motivated her to challenge an all‐male temple committee over their decision not to allow women full participation in the firewalking ceremony.1