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Western Himalayan Temple Records
State, Pilgrimage, Ritual and Legality in ChambÄ
Series: - Brill's Indological Library, Volume: 31
Author:
While numerous studies exist on major South-Asian temples, surprisingly little is known about âminor shrinesâ and âlesser statesâ. Here fifty-five new documents, in a western-Himalayan script and language, and belonging to a small Siddha shrine, redress this remarkable gap in our knowledge. The documents cover a wide spectrumâfrom revenue grants to those dealing with ritual, pilgrimage, legality and temple-economyâthus building a picture of the relationship between state and shrine, and particularly so for the minor centres: their popularity and relationship with major temples; mundane matters; notices, petitions, and law-suits. It becomes clear how âlesser statesâ, despite their limited resources, patronized numerous small shrines, along with major temples; and the role played by the Nath-Siddha-ascetics in creating consent-to-rule, acculturation, and constructing hybridity between the Hindu and Tibetan-Buddhist traditions.
Mahesh Sharma, Fellow IIAS-Simla (1993-95) and Fulbright Senior Fellow (2007), teaches History at Panjab University, Chandigarh. He has published extensively on western-Himalayan religious and cultural history including The Realm of Faith: Subversion, Appropriation and Dominance in the Western Himalaya (2001).
"Sharmaâs work is comprehensive in its treatment of this subject and his attention to detail meticulous and impressive. His careful annotations provide valuable insights and help us work toward a wider understanding of the complex social history of ChambÄ. The book, which is beautifully produced by Brill with good illustrations, sets a high standard for all those working on the later religious history of South Asia in general and the Indian HimÄlayas in particular." - Beatriz Cifuentes, University of Durham, in: The Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, March 2012
"In such a short space, I cannot do justice to the many fascinating questions that the book evokes. Giving a very detailed study in small-scale economic history of a Himalayan kingdom as well as general considerations on the part played by rituals in the construction of legitimacy, this book will appeal to a broad but demanding readership." - Véronique Bouillier, CNRS, Paris, in: The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 49, 3 (2012)
"In such a short space, I cannot do justice to the many fascinating questions that the book evokes. Giving a very detailed study in small-scale economic history of a Himalayan kingdom as well as general considerations on the part played by rituals in the construction of legitimacy, this book will appeal to a broad but demanding readership." - Véronique Bouillier, CNRS, Paris, in: The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 49, 3 (2012)
Historians and Anthropologists working on South Asia, particularly India. It offers fresh documents to those doing Himalayan Studies; Hindu and Buddhist religious history and cultural studies; and Historians of Religion.