Western Himalayan Temple Records

State, Pilgrimage, Ritual and Legality in Chambā

• Author(s): Mahesh Sharma,
• Publisher: BRILL
• Pages: 420
• ISBN_10: 9047430379
  ISBN_13: 9789047430377
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Philosophy / Political , Philosophy / Religious , Religion / Religion, Politics & State , History / Ancient / Greece , Religion / History , Social Science / Folklore & Mythology , Religion / Comparative Religion , Religion / Ecumenism & Interfaith , Religion / Ancient ,

Description:... While numerous studies exist on major South-Asian temples, surprisingly little is known about ‘minor shrines’ and ‘lesser states’. 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 spectrum—from revenue grants to those dealing with ritual, pilgrimage, legality and temple-economy—thus 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 ‘lesser states’, 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.