Description

This lecture studies the history of the Hindu deity Skanda from circa 3rd century BCE to the 7th century CE in north India. Dr. Mann argues that Skanda’s following begins in two closely related propitiatory cults: one focused on a warrior figure, and the other oriented towards appeasing a group of spirits called Grahas. Infant mortality was attributed to a Graha attack in ancient India, and Skanda was regarded as the most dangerous of these spirits. Dr. Mann suggests that these cults were widely practiced in ancient India because of their focus on health and fertility.

Dr. Mann then argue that Skanda is progressively alienated from these propitiatory cults and increasingly depicted as a formal military deity and as the son of Śiva. These shifts are caused by cultural, religious and political shifts in the north of India beginning at around the 1st century CE. These contextual shifts are primarily driven by the emergence of the religiously and culturally heterogeneous empire of the Kushans and an attempt by the orthodox Brahminical community to assimilate Skanda into the Hindu Epic tradition. These shifts in Skanda’s characterization ultimately lead to the fall of his ‘popular’ status in north India. The worship of the deity is removed from the everyday concerns of children’s health and becomes a cult of military figures and royalty. With the eventual fall of these political sponsors the cult of Skanda falters and is eclipsed by the more broad-based cult of his father, Śiva.
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Richard Mann completed his PhD in Religious Studies at McMaster University in 2003. His doctoral work focused on the early cult of Skanda-Karttikeya in North India during the Kushan Empire. Dr. Mann has published and lectured on South Asian numismatics, the cult of Skanda, the material culture of early Saivism, modern Hindu gurus in North America and the impact of the ‘new’ middle class in India on contemporary Hinduism. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Religion Program at Carleton University.