Horror and wonder in a putrid trench: the Brahmayāmala’s “Rite of the Pit of Power” (siddhigarttāyāga)

Hatley, Shaman 2025. Horror and wonder in a putrid trench: the Brahmayāmala’s “Rite of the Pit of Power” (siddhigarttāyāga). Asian Literature and Translation (ALT) 12 (1) , pp. 80-98. 10.18573/alt.67

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Abstract

This article presents a critical edition and translation of chapter 46 of the Brahmayāmala or Picumata, entitled “Rite of the Pit” (garttāyāga). The Brahmayāmala is one of the earliest surviving goddess-oriented (i.e. Śākta) tantras of the Śaiva Mantramārga, positioning itself within the Vidyāpīṭha (Wisdom-Mantra Corpus) division of Bhairavatantras. Its core chapters may have been composed between 650 and 750 ce. Chapter 46 belongs to a cycle of chapters (46–48) that exemplify mortuary (kāpālika) asceticism of an extreme variety: antinomian rituals with non-soteriological aims set in the cremation ground that entail intense engagement with impurity, ritual violence and the supernatural. This chapter describes a practice—the siddhigarttāyāga (“rite of the pit of power”)—in which the tantric practitioner constructs a pit filled with all manner of impurity and abides there, continuously incanting a mantra until various signs, visions and powers arise.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2051-5863
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 February 2026
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2026 13:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184619

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