Pastoral deities in western India

Bibliographic Information

Pastoral deities in western India

by Günther-Dietz Sontheimer ; translated by Anne Feldhaus

Oxford University Press, 1989

Other Title

Birobā, Mhaskobā und Khaṇḍobā

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Note

Translation of: Birobā, Mhaskobā und Khaṇḍobā

Bibliography: p. 239-247

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This is a translation of a book by the internationally renowned German ethnographer Gunther-Dietz Sontheimer. Sontheimer here describes the religious system of a pastoralist area which includes parts of three linguistic regions (Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh). Making use of oral narratives collected from this area, he describes its gods and their worshippers: not only pastoralists, but also ferrymen, merchants, robbers and wandering holy men. Sontheimer places the oral material in its social, cultural and ecological context, showing how myths and ritual cycles give shape to the people's collective identity and attitudes toward other communities. This book represents hundreds of hours of interviews conducted under difficult fieldwork conditions. It not only presents a look at a virtually unstudied and fast disappearing way of life but makes a significant contribution to the understanding of Hindu tradition.

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