The Poojari's Daughter opens with flashbacks of the South Indian priestess Rajathiammal 'cutting the goat' and ritually having her head tonsured in Madurai, Tamilnadu. Both moments fulfill the priestess' deepest desires: to have herself filmed performing the annual goat sacrifice to the Saivite God
Paandi, and to renounce her family life altogether.
Using experimental film techniques that recall the work of Trinh Minh Ha, The Poojari's Daughter weaves dramatic footage of these rituals and temple life at Paandi Kooyil with Rajathiammal's moving narration of her process, interviews with close family, and brief narrations by the filmmaker. Together, these create a vivid and unforgettably intimate portrait of the devotional worlds of this remarkable woman and South Indian Hinduism
“This film is, indeed, a brilliant attempt at conveying the richness of a female ascetic-householder. I would recommend it to students of anthropology and religious studies who are studying issues of health, healing, ritual possession, South Asian Studies, Tamil ritual life, women, and religious leadership.” — Vijaya Nagarajan, American Anthropologist, Vol. 114, No. 2
SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDSSociety for the Anthropology of Religion Meeting, New Mexico, 2011
SVA Film, Video, and Interactive Media Festival, Lousiana, 2010