Download or read book Wives of the God-King written by Frédérique Apffel-Marglin and published by Delhi ; New York : Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the tension between the purity and impurity of the "devadasis"--a handful of female devotees of the Hindu temple and cult of Jagannatha at Puri--this book examines ideas about kingship, power, sexual purity, the role and status of women, and other central concerns of Hindu religious and cultural life.