correspondence between the two calen-
dars—and thus, for example, to keep
the spring festivals in the spring—it is
considered an unusual event, impure
and ritually dangerous.
Malatimadhava
Play written by the Sanskritdramatist
Bhavabhuti(early 8th c.), who was par-
ticularly noted for his ability to express
and transmit the play of emotions
through language. The play’s general
plot is the triumphant love between
Malati and her beloved Madhava (an
epithet of the god Krishna), despite
numerous obstacles along the way. The
drama is noted as an exquisite poetic
work, but also because the primary
villain is an evil ascetic, generally
believed to be a member of the extinct
ascetic sect known as Kapalikas. The
Kapalikas were devotees (bhakta) of
Shiva, emulating him in his wrathful
form as Bhairava: wearing the hair long
and matted, smearing the body with
ash (preferably from the cremation
ground), and bearing a club and a
skull-bowl (kapala). The Kapilikas are
cited as indulging in forbidden
behavior—drinking wine, eating meat,
using cannabis and other drugs,
performing human sacrifice, and
orgiastic sexuality—which made them
feared. Bhavabhuti’s description is
one of the earliest references to
Shaiva asceticism, and thus historically
significant. The play has been translated
into English by Michael Coulson and
published in an anthology titled Three
Sanskrit Plays, 1981.
Mali
Traditional Indian society was a collec-
tion of endogamous subgroups (in
which marriage is decreed by law to
occur only between members of the
same group) known as jatis(“birth”).
The jatis were organized (and their
social status determined) by the group’s
hereditary occupation, over which each
group held a monopoly. In traditional
northern Indian society, the Malis’
hereditary occupation was tending gar-
dens, growing flowers, and making
flower garlands (mala).Mallikarjuna
Temple and sacred site (tirtha) on the
holy mountain Shrishaila in Andhra
Pradesh. The temple is named for its
presiding deity, the god Shiva in his
manifestation as the “[Lord] White as
Jasmine.” Shiva is present at Mallikarjuna
in the form of a linga, a pillar-shaped
image. The Mallikarjuna linga is one of
the twelve jyotirlingas, a network of
sites at which Shiva is uniquely present.
Mallikarjuna’s charter myth is based on
a competition between Shiva’s two
sons, Ganeshand Skanda, who agree
that the first one to circle the earth will
be the first one to be married. Skanda
mounts his peacockand takes off, sure
that he is faster. Ganesh, however, sim-
ply walks around Shiva and his wife
Parvati, as a symbol that they are the
entire universe. When Skanda returns,
he is very angry to discover that he has
been beaten. He leaves Kailas, the
Himalayan mountain believed to be
Shiva’s abode, and goes to southern
India. Parvati is very upset at the
absence of her son, but none of the
envoys they send can persuade Skanda
to return. Finally, Shiva and Parvati go
themselves, landing on Shrishaila
mountain. Skanda has already departed
for a nearby mountain. Before following
after him, his parents consecrate the
first site as Mallikarjuna.
As with all the jyotirlingas, Mallikarjuna
is deemed a very powerful site. Worship-
ing this jyotirlinga is said to bring the
increase of wealth, freedom from dis-
ease, well-being, and any other desired
end. The site itself is a difficult place to
reach, deep in the jungle on the top of
Shrishaila mountain. For this reason,
the major festival celebrated here is
Shivaratri, the most important festival
to Shiva during the entire year, when
devotees (bhakta) come and stay for
several days.Mallikarjuna