The Runaway Goddess: Sacred Waters in an Era of Climate Apocalypse

Harvard Divinity School

When a sacred lake bursts into toxic flames, and the temple at its shore is charred, the resident goddess flees. Where can She go? Highlighting the paradox between Hinduism’s view of water as female, sacred and sentient, and the endemic pollution of water resources and climate- driven drought in contemporary India, this ethnographic and archival project considers the existential ethics at stake in apocalyptic climate change. If water is life, as our popular understanding suggests, we ask, what is a life without water? Visiting Professor of South Asian Religions and Women's Studies in Religion Program 2022-23 Research Associate Tulasi Srinivas explores these questions in this lecture. This event took place on October 13, 2022 Learn more: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/home Full transcript: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2022/12/2/video-runaway-goddess-sacred-waters-era-climate-apocalypse?admin_panel=1