Relics, lingas, and other auspicious material remains in South Asian religions
This article reconsiders sites, practices, and ideas about the physical remains of the special dead in South Asian religions. Questioning the common notion of "relics" as a point of distinction between "Buddhism" and "Hinduism," it explores the constellation of ideas an...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2014]
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| In: |
Material religion
Year: 2014, Volume: 10, Issue: 4, Pages: 452-471 |
| Further subjects: | B
Stūpa
B Saivism B Buddhism B Brahmanical B Lingam B Hinduism B special dead B Relics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This article reconsiders sites, practices, and ideas about the physical remains of the special dead in South Asian religions. Questioning the common notion of "relics" as a point of distinction between "Buddhism" and "Hinduism," it explores the constellation of ideas and practices surrounding the remains of gods, demons, people, and animals in South Asian religions. Archaeological and literary evidence for lingas, stūpas, and related sites and structures are used to explore shared discourses and practices among Buddhists and Saivas in particular. Through such test cases, it shows how bones and other physical remains of the special dead could become areas of engagement, especially when linked to sacred landscape. Attention to these contact zones reveals sharing, borrowing, and competition among ancient and medieval groups that modern scholarship has studied primarily in terms of assumed differences between "Hinduism" and "Buddhism." |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/175183414X14176054221364 |