Death and Life-Giving Waters: Cremation, caste, and cosmogony in karmic traditions

Description

In this original work, the author aims to develop a synthetic perspective for enhancing the understanding of the roles death and life-giving waters have in the constitution of society and cosmos in karmic traditions through a material culture study of death and funeral practices as cultural, ritual, and religious processes in parts of Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and the Indus Valley. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Preface Table of Contents List of figures Introduction Part 1: Cremating Death – Creating Life Chapter 1: Cremations, kings, and katto Chapter 2: Sacrifices of kings – Constructions of castes and cosmos Chapter 3: Meditation upon death and digestion of the dead Chapter 4: Paradoxes of purity and pollution Part 2: The Sisters Kali and Ganga Chapter 5: “I am on my dharma, but Kali is on my karma” Chapter 6: Castes without Brahmans Chapter 7: Water burials of Mother Goddesses Chapter 8: Hindus in a Muslim World Part 3: Reality, Materiality, and Spirituality Chapter 9: River and rain – Waters of life and death Chapter 10: The hydrological circle – Cosmos and copulation Chapter 11: Myth and materiality – Mind in matter Chapter 12: Shivaratri, sadhus, and sewage Chapter 13: Status and flesh – Conceptualising corpses Part 4: Archaeology of Water-Worlds Chapter 14: Pashupatinath as living traditions and cultural heritage Chapter 15: Rebirth and water in ancient Greece and India Chapter 16: Exposure, purity, and Zoroastrianism Chapter 17: Religious syncretism at Taxila Conclusion Appendixes and Literature Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Literature