Dynastic rule and religious ritual: A study of the S´ulkīs in early medieval Odisha

Abstract

The quest of ruling houses to acquire moral authority over their subjects by associating themselves with particular cults and rituals seems to have been a common enough phenomenon in India. This article studies the ways in which the Śulkī rulers in a part of Odisha (ninth-tenth centuries) promoted the cult of the female deity Stambheśvarī, originally represented by a simple post or pillar, by incorporating her in the Brahmanical pantheon. The article traces the stages in which this transformation occurred.