Transgression and Purification in the Dasa Mahāvidyā Series of Pahārī Painting around 1800. ; Transgression et purification dans la série des « déesses de grande sagesse » (Mahāvidyā) de la peinture pahārī (fin XVIIIe- milieu du XIXe siècle)

International audience ; This article analyzes the structure of a group of ten goddesses called the Mahāvidyās, described in Tantric literature (Tantrasāra and Śāktapramoda), which were represented in Indian painting between the 18th and the 19th centuries, and seem to have been particularly popular in the Penjab hills (Pahārī region). After defining the standard features of the different figures around 1800 through a comparison between a few representative examples chosen in Pahārī miniatures and a Pahārī silk embroidery (rumal), we try to examine the logic underlying the sequence of the ten goddesses. While the first figure of the series, the terrific Kālī, is endowed with strong erotic and gruesome aspects, these features tend to fade gradually in the three figures who follow. This process of purification seems to be suddenly interrupted by the appearance of the bloody self-decapitated Chinnamastā, who stands upon the copulating couple formed by the god of love Kāma and his wife Rati. As shown by the layout of the goddesses on the embroidery, Chinnamastā is most probably to be understood in relation with the last goddess of the series, Kamalā, who receives upon her head the lustral water of the coronation and embodies a feminine model which conforms to more orthodox views. While Chinnamastā could refer to the kulayāga of Tantric texts, the sexual union intended as sacrifice, Kamalā may represent the ritual initiation of the tantric adept (abhiśekha). The whole series of the Mahāvidyā would then illustrate the different stages of an initiation process which aims at moving beyond the opposition between purity and impurity. ; Cet article se propose d'analyser la structure d'un groupe de dix déesses appelées les Mahāvidyā (« Grandes Sagesses »), décrites dans les textes tantriques (Tantrasāra et Śāktapramoda) et représentées dans la peinture indienne entre le XVIIIe et le XIXe siècle, notamment dans celle du haut Penjab (région « des collines », pahārī). À travers une comparaison entre quelques exemples ...