The Invisible Path of Karma in a Himalayan Purificatory Rite
Indic rites of purification aim to negate the law of karma by removing the residues of malignant past actions from their patrons. This principle is exemplified in the Kahika Mela, a rarely studied religious festival of the West Himalayan highlands (Himachal Pradesh, India), wherein a ritual speciali...
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| Tipo di documento: | Elettronico Articolo |
| Lingua: | Inglese |
| Verificare la disponibilità: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Caricamento...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Pubblicazione: |
[2018]
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| In: |
Religions
Anno: 2018, Volume: 9, Fascicolo: 3, Pagine: 1-16 |
| Altre parole chiave: | B
Tantra
B Himachal Pradesh B Human Sacrifice B Rituale B Shaktism B Khas B Kullu B Nar B Karma B Scapegoat |
| Accesso online: |
Accesso probabilmente gratuito Volltext (Publisher) Volltext (doi) |
| Riepilogo: | Indic rites of purification aim to negate the law of karma by removing the residues of malignant past actions from their patrons. This principle is exemplified in the Kahika Mela, a rarely studied religious festival of the West Himalayan highlands (Himachal Pradesh, India), wherein a ritual specialist assumes karmic residues from large publics and then sacrificed to their presiding deity. British officials who had discovered' this purificatory rite at the turn of the twentieth century interpreted it as a variant of the universal scapegoat' rituals that were then being popularized by James Frazer and found it loosely connected to ancient Tantric practises. The However, observing a recent performance of the ritual significantly complicated this view. This paper proposes a novel reading of the Kahika Mela through the prism of karmic transference. Tracing the path of karmas from participants to ritual specialist and beyond, it delineates the logic behind the rite, revealing that the culminating act of human sacrifice is, in fact, secondary to the mysterious force that impels its acceptance. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Comprende: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel9030078 |
