Palanquins of the Gods: Indigenous Theologies, Ritual Practice, and Complex Agency in the Western Indian Himalayas
Issued Date: 27 Dec 2017
Abstract
Village deities in the West Indian Himalayas, who manifest in temples, possessed oracles, and moving vehicles, intervene in various aspects of the private and public lives of their devotees. As such, these devīs and devtās (goddesses and gods) emerge from both indigenous theologies and innovative scholarly theories as complex agents whose cognition is distributed among community members and whose agency is articulated and enacted in public rituals. After presenting the body of theory to which I have just referred, I argue in this essay that the institution of the moving rath—literally a ‘chariot,’ but in reality a palanquin carried on devotees’ shoulders—is a major ritual arena where the deities are established as such complex agents. I do so by documenting in detail and analyzing the ritual handling of the shared rath of the goddess Haḍimbā and the god Manu Ṛṣī, two well-known village deities in the Kullu Valley (Himachal Pradesh), otherwise known as ‘The Valley of Gods.’
Download Media
PDF (Price: £17.50 )DOI: 10.1558/rosa.31666
References
Alter, Andrew. 2008. Dancing with Devtās: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal, North India. Hampshire: Ashgate.
Berti, Daniela. 2001. La parole des dieux: Rituels de possession en Himalaya. Paris: CNRS.
—2004. ‘Of Metal and Cloths: The Location of Distinctive Features in Divine Iconography (Indian Himalayas).’ In Phyllis E. Granoff and Koichi Shinohara (eds.), Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts: 85–114. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Calvert, John. 1873. Vazeeri Rupi, the Silver Country of the Vazeers, in Kulu. London: E. & F. N. Spon.
Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2000. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Dallapiccola, Anna L. 2016 (2012). ‘Vāhanas.’ In Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar and Vasudha Narayanan (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Brill Online.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. ‘Religion as a Cultural System.’ In Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures; Selected Essays: 87–125. New York: Basic Books.
Guha, Ranajit. 1988. ‘The Prose of Counter-Insurgency.’ In Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (eds.), Selected Subaltern Studies: 45–84. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hingorani, Alka. 2013. Making Faces: Self and Image Creation in a Himalayan Valley. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Inden, Ronald B. 2000. Imagining India. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Original edn., Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1990.
Keune, Jon. 2012. ‘Eknāth.’ In Knut A. Jacobson, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar and Vasudha Narayanan (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Brill Online.
Luchesi, Brigitte. 2006. ‘Fighting Enemies and Protecting Territory: Deities as Local Rulers in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.’ European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 29-30: 62–81.
Prakash, Gyan. 1986. ‘Reproducing Inequality: Spirit Cults and Labor Relations in Colonial Eastern India.’ Modern Asian Studies 20 (2): 209–30. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00000822
—1990. Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sax, William Sturman. 2003. ‘Divine Kingdoms in the Central Himalayas.’ In Niels Gutschow, Axel Michaels, Charles Ramble and Ernst Steinkellner (eds.), Sacred Landscape of the Himalaya: 177–94. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
—2006. ‘Agency.’ In Jens Kreinath, Jan Snoek and Michael Stausberg (eds.), Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts: 473–81. Leiden: Brill.
—2009. God of Justice: Ritual Healing and Social Justice in the Central Himalayas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sutherland, Peter. 1998. ‘Travelling Gods and Government by Deity: An Ethnohistory of Power, Representation and Agency in West Himalayan Polity.’ Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Oxford University.
—2006. ‘T(r)opologies of Rule (Rāj): Ritual Sovereignty and Theistic Subjection.’ European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 29/30: 82–119.
Urban, Hugh B. 2001. ‘The Path of Power: Impurity, Kingship, and Sacrifice in Assamese Tantra.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 69 (4): 777–816. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/69.4.777
Vogel, Jean Philippe. 1903–1904. ‘Copper-Plate Grant of Bahādur Singh of Kuḷḷū.’ Archaelogical Survey of India—Annual Report: 261–69.
Berti, Daniela. 2001. La parole des dieux: Rituels de possession en Himalaya. Paris: CNRS.
—2004. ‘Of Metal and Cloths: The Location of Distinctive Features in Divine Iconography (Indian Himalayas).’ In Phyllis E. Granoff and Koichi Shinohara (eds.), Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts: 85–114. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Calvert, John. 1873. Vazeeri Rupi, the Silver Country of the Vazeers, in Kulu. London: E. & F. N. Spon.
Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2000. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Dallapiccola, Anna L. 2016 (2012). ‘Vāhanas.’ In Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar and Vasudha Narayanan (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Brill Online.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. ‘Religion as a Cultural System.’ In Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures; Selected Essays: 87–125. New York: Basic Books.
Guha, Ranajit. 1988. ‘The Prose of Counter-Insurgency.’ In Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (eds.), Selected Subaltern Studies: 45–84. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hingorani, Alka. 2013. Making Faces: Self and Image Creation in a Himalayan Valley. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Inden, Ronald B. 2000. Imagining India. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Original edn., Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1990.
Keune, Jon. 2012. ‘Eknāth.’ In Knut A. Jacobson, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar and Vasudha Narayanan (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Brill Online.
Luchesi, Brigitte. 2006. ‘Fighting Enemies and Protecting Territory: Deities as Local Rulers in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.’ European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 29-30: 62–81.
Prakash, Gyan. 1986. ‘Reproducing Inequality: Spirit Cults and Labor Relations in Colonial Eastern India.’ Modern Asian Studies 20 (2): 209–30. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00000822
—1990. Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sax, William Sturman. 2003. ‘Divine Kingdoms in the Central Himalayas.’ In Niels Gutschow, Axel Michaels, Charles Ramble and Ernst Steinkellner (eds.), Sacred Landscape of the Himalaya: 177–94. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
—2006. ‘Agency.’ In Jens Kreinath, Jan Snoek and Michael Stausberg (eds.), Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts: 473–81. Leiden: Brill.
—2009. God of Justice: Ritual Healing and Social Justice in the Central Himalayas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sutherland, Peter. 1998. ‘Travelling Gods and Government by Deity: An Ethnohistory of Power, Representation and Agency in West Himalayan Polity.’ Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Oxford University.
—2006. ‘T(r)opologies of Rule (Rāj): Ritual Sovereignty and Theistic Subjection.’ European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 29/30: 82–119.
Urban, Hugh B. 2001. ‘The Path of Power: Impurity, Kingship, and Sacrifice in Assamese Tantra.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 69 (4): 777–816. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/69.4.777
Vogel, Jean Philippe. 1903–1904. ‘Copper-Plate Grant of Bahādur Singh of Kuḷḷū.’ Archaelogical Survey of India—Annual Report: 261–69.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.