Gods on Earth: The Management of Religious Experience and Identity in a North Indian Pilgrimage Centre

327 Pages·2004·47.508 MB·English

by  Peter van der Veer

GODS ON EARTH
LondonS choolo f Economics Monographso n Social Anthropology
Managing Editor: Charles Stafford
The Monographs on Social Anthropology were
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The Monographs are under the direction of an
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and Political Science.
Gods on Earth<br/>
The Management of Religious Experience
and Identity in a North Indian
Pilgrimage Centre
Peter van der Veer
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS MONOGRAPHS ON SOCIALA NTHROPOLOGY
Volume 59
First published 2004 by Berg Publishers
Published 2020 by Routledge<br/>
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© Peter van der Veer 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN 13: 978-1-8452-0302-3 (hbk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Note on transliteration viii
Mapsix
Prefacexi
I Ayodhya: Time and Place1
1 Introduction1
2 Sarayu and the ghat9s
3 The presence of Ram 18
4 The conjunction of time and place 28
5 Ayodhya in history 34
II Problems and Perspectives 44
1 The study of meaning 44
2 Hinduism: the orientalist perspective 52
3 The study of a pilgrimage centre 58
III Devotion and Ascetisicm 66
1 Introduction 66
2 Tradition and Identity 85
3 Tyagis107
4 Nagas130
5 Rasiks 159
6 Conclusion: The Ramanandis, an open category 172
IV The sacred as a profession 183
1 Introduction 183
2 The ideal Brahman as an ideological construct 189
3 The formation of professional identities 211
4 Competition and Violence 241
5 Conclusion: Values and Existence 259
V Conclusion 268
Appendix 1 Kanak Bhavan, an example of a temple
built by a raja 273
Appendix 2 Caste temples 275
Appendix 3 Rules and regulations ofH anumangarhi 277
Notes281
Bibliography 296
Glossary 304
Inde3x06
Acknowledgements
This book is the result of a long interest in Hindu pilgrimage which
was encouraged during my study of Sanskrit and Hinduism at the
University of Groningen. J. Ensink helped me to find my way to
Lucknow and, finally, to Ayodhya. The research was made possible
by the Departments of Anthropology of the Free University of
Amsterdam and the University of Utrecht. Arie de Ruijter of the
latter institution especially kept me on the track with diligence.
Three of my field trips were financially supported by the Netherlands
Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research.
In Ayodhya I received the invaluable help of Ram Raksha Tripathi
who acted as my guide, interpreter, teacher, informant and what not.
My wife and I were accepted as members of his family and, what is
more, we feel like that. Thanks to the Tripathi family Ayodhya has
become our second home. It will be clear that a study like this could
not have been sustained without the willingness and sometimes even
encouragement of the religious specialists whose life and history I
had come to record. Although my study may show a rather bleak
picture of the pilgrimage system, in which these specialists have to
work, their friendliness towards me cannot be overestimated.
I have received great help in preparing the book and in developing
and shaping the argument. I am grateful to Mart Bax, Alan
Entwistle, Matthew Schoffeleers and Bonno Thoden van Velzen for
their valuable comments and suggestions. By inviting me as an
academic visitor in the summer term of 1986 the Department of
Anthropology of the London School of Economics enabled me to
discuss my work with many colleagues. I have especially benefited
from the critical comments of Christopher Fuller and Jonathan
Parry. I am much indebted to Michael Sallnow for editing my
attempts at writing English.
Finally, I want to dedicate this book to my shakti, Jacobien de
Boer.
Note transliteration
on
A number of problems arise in dealing with the transliteration of
Indian languages in a monograph which is written for both Indianists
pand greneoral annthropoulogistsn. I hacve triieda to ctonvieyo Hindni
rather than Sanskrit orthography. That means that I have
in general dropped the final "a" in, for example, "Ram(a)" and
"Shiv(a)". Inconsistency seems, however, the unavoidable price for
these decisions. Only the words in italics have been given diacritical
marks.
Map of Uttar Pradesh
Map ofA yodhya