The Divine and Demonaic

Berkson gives a lively description of the importance of the Goddess-Buffalo demon legend in contemporary India, illustrated with remarkable photographs of the annual ritual enactment of the myth in village festivals as well as urban settings. Berkson views the myth as a significant reflection of the tension between the adolescent male, striving for a separate identity, and the dominating mother figure, filtered through the Brahmin priest/myth maker/narrator.