part of modern Bihar. Despite the
community’s size, Maithila brahmins
are well known for their commitment
to learning and culture, as exemplified
by their most famous member, the
poet Vidyapati.
Maithuna
(“copulation”) In the secret ritually-
based religious practice known as
tantra, sexual intercourse is the fifth
and last of the Five Forbidden Things
(panchamakara); the panchamakara
are used in their actual forms in “left
hand” (vamachara) tantric ritual,
whereas they are represented by sym-
bolic substitutes in “right hand” (dak-
shinachara) tantric ritual. Many
traditions in Hindu tantra describe ritu-
alized sexual intercourse as a symbol of
the ultimate union of the god Shivaand
his wife Shakti. Ritual sexuality must be
seen in the larger tantric context. One of
the most pervasive tantric assumptions
is the ultimate unity of everything that
exists. From a tantric perspective, to
affirm that the entire universe is one
principle means that the adept must
reject all concepts based on dualistic
thinking. The “Five Forbidden Things”
provide a ritual means for breaking
down duality; in this ritual the adept
breaks societal norms forbidding con-
sumption of intoxicants, nonvegetari-
an food, and illicit sexuality in a
conscious effort to sacralize what is
normally forbidden. Tantric adepts cite
such ritual use of forbidden things as
proof that their practice involves a
more exclusive qualification (adhikara),
and is thus superior to common prac-
tice. In some forms of this ritual the
woman is the initiate’s wife, who is
worshiped before intercourse as a
manifestation of the Goddess. In other
cases this ritual intercourse is por-
trayed as adulterous, usually with a
woman of very low status, to magnify
the social boundaries being trans-
gressed. This latter practice is uncom-
mon now, at least in southern India,
where Brooks describes it as virtually
unknown. For further information see
Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Shakti
and Shakta, 1978; Swami Agehananda
Bharati, The Tantric Tradition, 1972; and
Douglas Renfrew Brooks, The Secret of the
Three Cities, 1990.Makarasana
(“crocodile seat”) In Indian iconogra-
phy, a base on which an image may
be placed. The base is a figure of a
crocodile, with a flat part on its back for
the image.Makara Sankranti
Religious festival that falls on the day the
sun makes the transition (sankranti)
into the zodiacal sign of Capricorn
(makara). According to Western astrol-
ogy, this occurs around December 20,
but in Indian astrology (jyotisha), this
occurs on January 14. This is one of the
few celebrations in the festival year
marked by the solar rather than the
lunar calendar. On Makara Sankranti,
the sun is reckoned as beginning its
“northward journey” (uttarayana). This
will continue until Karka Sankrantisix
months later, when the sun enters
Cancer, and begins its “southward jour-
ney” (dakshinayana). Since the uttarayana
is believed to be more auspicious than
its counterpart, the day marking this
transition is deemed particularly aus-
picious. Makara Sankranti is primarily
a bathing (snana) festival; great num-
bers of people come to bathe in rivers
on that day, especially the Ganges. The
largest bathing festival on the Ganges
is at Sagar Island in state of West
Bengal(also known as Ganga Sagar),
celebrated as the place where the
Ganges empties into the sea at the Bay
of Bengal.Mala
(“garland”) This word denotes any sort
of necklace. Garlands made of flowers
are ubiquitous throughout India, both
as offeringsto a deity—around whose
neck they are placed as adornment—orMala