Shower of Gold: Women and Girls in the Stories of India

by Uma Krishnaswami

A collection of stories featuring strong female figures from Hindu mythology, Buddhist tales, and others from the history and folklore of the Indian subcontinent, with each piece accompanied by background information

125 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 1999

Reviews

[Amber Greer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good short story about Indian and Hindu mythology. It was a different read for me since I don’t typically read about other cultures’ mythology, folklore, or fairytales. Shower of Gold was a good and different book from my usual Greek mythology books or short stories books. It was a nice change of pace.

If you want to learn about Indian or Hindu mythology then I highly recommend Shower of Gold. It’s a good cultural book.

[Aneesa]

The first two stories in this book (at least) are about parents who want sons instead of daughters. Also, the pictures aren't in color.

[Emily Mateos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade/interest level: Middle school (6th-8th grade)
Reading level: None available but because of amount of text and content around 7th grade
Genre: Traditional literature, Multicultural literature

Main Characters: various Indian girls and women
Setting: various locations in India
POV: 3rd person narration

This book is a collection of stories taken from Indian history as well as Indian mythology. All stories tell of the struggle and dire circumstances that one particular female character was faced with and shows how she overcame. Some of the situations the characters are in are quite tramatic and terrible but eventually through their strength and wisdom the character wins in the end. One story was of a demon named Mahisha and he asked the gods for eternal life. When they said they could not give him that, Mahisha made them promise that his life would only end at the hands of a woman because he thought that no woman would ever be able to do him harm. Mahisha went off and wreaked havoc on the town and started doing the same to the land of the gods. The gods had had enough and decided to make a woman to destroy Mahisha. She had a thousand arms and the power of the gods with her. Her name was the goddess Durga. Mahisha remembered the promise he had been given by the gods and he sent his army to attack Durga but she prevailed. There was a giant battle between the two and finally Durga won.
I would use this book in the upper grade classroom to do several things. One is to introduce students to Indian culture which is not often a part of the standard curriculum. Another is to give alternative examples of folklore and mythology and have students create their own myths. Finally I like that this book gives girls a sense of strength and power which can be really helpful in a classroom with girls ready to go on to highschool.

[Rebekah Holladay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories with women main characters from India. It was written by an Indian lady who wrote them according to how she remembered hearing them from other people or from school. She puts notes at the end of each story telling you where you can read another retelling. They're very short and fun to read.

[Nieva21 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living as a Hindu, I don't feel some of these are 'myths' but they are accurately told. I love how they are all centered around women archetypes in the anthology, either goddesses or warriors who battled the impossible asuras. I recommend this book because it's definitely a book worth reading to gain perspective on what is culturally important to and in India.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

These girls and women "sing of strength and mercy. Some are compassionate, some loving. Some are defiant, others brave." This rich, luminous collection by Uma Krishnaswami is such an empowering read.