Abhisekham

[nas_ng at lms420.jsc.nasa.gov]

Feb. 27, 1995

         RE: ABHISEKHAM
         --------------

Regarding the query on abhisekham on Gomatesvara statue
at Sravanabelagola in Karnataka, I have a few additional 
references on abhisekham in general.

Gabriella Eichenger Ferro-Luzzi
1) Abhisekha, the Indian rite that defies definition
Anthropos, 76, p.707-742, 1981
She has a book on temple origin legends. Many have the
legend that a cow stood over a linga in the forest
and milk came out on its own bathing the lingam.

Gabriella Eichenger Ferro-Luzzi
The self-milking cow and the bleeding lingam: criss-cross of motifs
in Indian temple legends.

On related Naivedhya ritual, Gabriella Eichenger Ferro-Luzzi
has few more papers:
1) Ritual as language: The case of South Indian food offerings.
Current Anthropology, 18, p.507-514, 1977
2) The foods of the Gods versus Human food in South India
L'Uomo, 5, p.239-266, 1981
3) The logic of South Indian food offerings.
Anthropos, 72, 3-4, p.529-556, 1977

David Shulman's Tamil temple myths, Princeton, 1980
is also immensely helpful.

Yours
N. Ganesan
nas_ng at lms461.jsc.nasa.gov