ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of popular religion in Bengal towards the end of the nineteenth century, including the Bengali intelligentsia's yearning for certain traditional practices criticised by the colonial regime, such as Tantra and image worship. Many sought to protect these practices and valorise Shaktism, and were nostalgically drawn to sites such as Tarapith. The chapter examines the relationship between Tara and Tarapith's famous resident sadhaka, Bamakhepa, who 'sweetened' and maternalised this once frighteningly unapproachable goddess through intimate interaction and visualisation, influenced by bhakti poetry. Calcutta Art Studio prints of Tara show her standing on the supine, corpse-like god Shiva, who is her husband. According to Shakta Tantric belief, reality is the result and expression of the interaction of male and female, spirit and matter, and Shiva and Shakti. Tara's transition from benevolent to terrifying also revealed her fundamentally ambiguous nature.
