ABSTRACT
Indira Goswami’s accounts on different socio-economic and religious aspects of Assam and of many other regions as well are powerful treatises on women empowerment and equality. Religion and religious ritualism become a façade for sexual and emotional exploitation of the widows in novels like The Man from Chinnamasta (2006) and her story, Under the Shadow of Kamakhya (2001). The prime thrust of the chapter is the complex deconstruction and reconstruction of different layers of experience in domestic and religious spheres, especially on feminine principles and the rituals of sacrifice in places of worship like the Kamakhya temple. This integration of the ‘woman question’ with religion once again becomes the core theme of Goswami’s writings. In a powerful manner, Goswami examines and analyses the ancient religious tradition of animal sacrifice at the Kamakhya temple situated in the city of Guwahati in Assam, which created much chaos and controversies in the public front much to the writer’s anguish.
