Sacred Complex of Ujjain-Dipak Kumar Samanta-DKPD-9788124600788
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An anthropologist of
wide repute here profiles Ujjain: a millennia-old, pilgrim centre that has
been celebrated in history, legend and mythology. Located on the eastern bank
of the Shipra — in Malwa’s “culture-area” — in Madhya Pradesh (Central
India), it is a major link in the sacred network of the Hindu India. And has
been traditionally venerated all across the subcontinent as one of the barely
four sites for the periodic kumbha melas (religious congresses). This ancient
city of Avantika (or Ujjayini), in fact, exhibits all that has gone into the
shaping of Hindu ritualistic behaviour. Yet the crowning glory of Ujjain is
centred around Mahakal: Lord Shiva’s temple, which is believed to be old
beyond history. In opening out the cultural panorama of Ujjain, Dr. Samanta
spotlights everything that reinforces the sanctity of this sacred complex:
like, for instance, the ksetra itself, the Shipra river, bathing ghats,
crematoriums, priests, preachers, pilgrims, mystifying rituals, religious
discourses, festivals, yatras, pageants, ascetics’ congregations, and
godmen’s institutions — with meticulous description of the Mahakal temple
which, generation after generation, has compelled country-wide attention. The
book also investigates the linkages between this “cultural centre” and the
“cultural area”, and how this sacred complex compares with its counterparts
elsewhere in India. The author has, for this study, employed standard
anthropological techniques, coupled with several spells of his fieldwork and
his personal interviews with a number of key informants. Also included here
is a painstakingly compiled glossary of non-English words. |
Book |
ISBN |
9788124600788
|
PUBLISHER |
DKPD |
Binding |
HARDCOVER |
Edition |
1997 |
Language |
ENGLISH |
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Sacred Complex of Ujjain-Dipak Kumar Samanta-DKPD-9788124600788