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The Art Of Devotion: Style, Culture, And Practice In Mid-Nineteenth-Century Kashmir, Nina Cavazos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Largely produced in the Kashmir Valley during the mid-nineteenth century, gutkas are pocket-sized anthologies of texts, hymns, and prayers that a Hindu would recite in a sacred place in the home, usually near an altar. In the past, these objects have been relegated to the periphery of art historical discourse due to scholarly discriminations against their unrefined, "folk" characteristics. However, despite the lack of academic interest, a critical study of gutka culture provides the ideal viewpoint from which to explore South Asian art history, cultural history, and historical Hindu practices. Although these objects were often left unsigned by their illiterate …