fyi: new publication

[Axel Michaels]

Zotter, Astrid; Zotter Christof [eds.]:
Hindu and Buddhist Initiati


Zotter, Astrid; Zotter Christof [eds.]:
Hindu and Buddhist Initiations in India and Nepal. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 
2010. - 380 S. : Ill. - (Ethno-Indology ; 10)
ISBN 978-3-447-06387-6
EUR ca. 64,00
DDC: 203.820954; 294



Broadly speaking, two sets of rituals are relevant to a discussion of  
initiations in Hindu and Buddhist traditions: initiatory rituals as part  of the 
life-cycle which are observed in many social groups and are  compulsory 
depending on gender or age, and those, more optional in  character, that allow 
admittance to a certain religious group or  practice. The contributors to this 
volume are from different academic  disciplines and treat examples of both kinds 
of rituals in various  religious settings. Of special interest in this 
collection of essays are  interrelationships among initiations and their 
relations to other kinds  of rituals. The papers are devoted to the study of 
minute details and  point to the dynamics of initiations. The transfer of ritual 
elements  accompanied by readjustments to new contexts as the modification of  
procedures or the reassignment of meanings is one of the recurring  traits. 
Other aspects addressed by the authors include the relation of  script (ritual 
handbooks) to performance or various forces of change  (e.g. the economics of 
ritual, gender-related variations, modernization  and democratization).


Preface. 7
Christof Zotter:
Notes on the Evolution of an Initiation Ritual: The Vratabandha of the Bāhun and 
Chetri. 17
Anne Keßler-Persaud:
Economy and Composition of Complex Rituals: Upanayana and Samāvartana as Part of 
Nuptial Ceremonies. 45
Shingo Einoo:
Notes on Āñjana. 71
Kathleen Gögge:
Early Childhood Rituals among the Newars and Parbatiyās in the Kathmandu Valley. 
87
Axel Michaels:
Newar Hybrid Ritual and its Language in Hindu Initiations. 137
Niels Gutschow:
The Ihi Marriage among the Newars of Bhaktapur, Nepal: Spatial Connotations of 
an Initiation Ritual. 151
David N. Gellner:
Initiation as a Site of Cultural Conflict among the Newars. 167
Todd T. Lewis:
Ritual (Re-)Constructions of Personal Identity: Newar Buddhist Life-Cycle Rites 
and Identity among the Urāy of Kathmandu. 183
Alexander von Rospatt:
Remarks on the Consecration Ceremony in Kuladatta’s Kriyāsaṃgrahapañjikā and its 
Development in Newar Buddhism. 197
Harunaga Isaacson:
Observations on the Development of the Ritual of Initiation (abhiṣeka) in the 
Higher Buddhist Tantric Systems. 261
Jörg Gengnagel:
Conversion or Initiation? On the Removal of the Sectarian Marks (liṅgoddhāra) in 
Śaiva Siddhānta. 281
Ute Hüsken:
Challenges to a Vaiṣṇava Initiation? 299
Gérard Colas:
Pratiṣṭhā: Ritual, Reproduction, Accretion. 319
Astrid Zotter:
How to Initiate a Tree: The Aśvatthopanayana in Prescriptive Texts. 341
Index. 365------------------------------
Prof. Dr. Axel Michaels
Co-Director Excellence Cluster "Asia and Europe in a Global Context", Sprecher 
des SFB 619 ("Ritualdynamik")

Universität Heidelberg, Südasien-Institut, Im Neuenheimer Feld 330, D-69120 
Heidelberg
Tel. +49-6221-548917 / Fax +49-6221-546338 
http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/ -- www.ritualdynamik.uni-hd.de 
-- http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/IND/index.html
Emails: sek-michaels at uni-heidelberg.de (SAI office) 
-- Axel.Michaels at urz.uni-heidelberg.de (official and personal) -- 
michaels at asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de (Cluster mail)