Includes bibliographical references (p. 411-422) and index
The historical background in BengalBuilding fences with Kālī: Rāmprasād Sen and the popularization of the Tantric goddess -- "Born in Rāmprasād's line to revive Bhakti": Sādhaka Kamalākānta -- Inheritors of tradition: floating in the Śākta stream -- Setting the literary and religious scene in eighteenth-century Bengal -- Dancing on the heart-lotus: Kālī and the Rāmprasāds of Bengali literature -- Keeping the legacy alive: Kamalākānta Bhaṭṭācārya and the Śākta Pādāvali tradition -- "Mā, come and stay awhile": Kālī and Umā in eighteenth- to twentienth-century Bengali poetry.