Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South AsiaSelva J. Raj, William P. Harman Drawing on original field research, Dealing with Deities explores the practice of taking ritual vows in the lives of ordinary religious practitioners in South Asia. The cornerstone of lay religious activity, vow rituals are adopted by Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs who wish to commit themselves to ritually enacted relationships with sacred figures in order to gain earthly boons and spiritual merit. The contributors to this volume offer a fascinating look at the varieties and complexities of vows and also focus on a unique characteristic of this vow-taking culture, that of resorting to deities and shrines of other religions in defiance of institutional directives and religious boundaries. Richly illustrated, the book explores the creativity of South Asian devotees and their deeply felt convictions that what they require, they can achieve faithfully—and independently—by dealing directly with deities. |
Contents
The Deal with DeitiesWays Vows Work in South Asia | 1 |
A Short Story | 15 |
3 Negotiating Relationships with the Goddess | 25 |
Vow Rituals among Tamil Catholics in South India | 43 |
5 Religious Vows at the Shrine of Shahul Hamid | 65 |
Making Vows Receiving Favors at Bangladeshi Sufi Shrines | 87 |
Buddhist Vows at Kataragama | 107 |
Tamil Hindus Templesand Goddesses in Germany | 129 |
Vowtaking in the Jain Tradition | 187 |
12 Vows in the Sikh Tradition | 201 |
The Case of Shyamavati | 219 |
14 Two Critiques of Womens Vows | 235 |
15 Toward a Typology of South Asian Lay Vows | 249 |
Glossary | 257 |
Contributors | 269 |
Essays Arranged According to Tradition | 273 |
Other editions - View all
Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia Selva J. Raj,William P. Harman Limited preview - 2006 |
Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia Selva J. Raj,William P. Harman No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
According actions activities acts appeared ascetic asked associated Bangladesh become believed bhakti body Buddhist called caste Catholic chapter Christian coconut commitment concerned context culture dargah deity devotees discussed divine example faith festival Figure fire-walking five give goddess Granth Guru Hindu human husband hymns important India individual initiated involve Islamic Jain Kanda karma Kartik Kataragama Khalsa kind known liberation lives major means month Muslim observe offering one’s participants particular path perform person pilgrims popular practice prayer present Press procession promise puja refers relationship religion religious rites ritual sacred sadhus saint serve Shahul Hamid shared shrine Sikh social South South Asian specific spiritual Sri Lankan stories suggest supernatural taken Tamil temple term tradition University village vows vrats women worship young