The Biography of a God

Mahasu in the Himalayas
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-94-6372-665-8
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 11, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Religion and Society in Asia

Mahasu is the joint name of four gods whose influence is widespread throughout the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Like other deities in the Western Himalayas, they are regarded as royal gods who rule over territories and people. This book traces changes in faith and practices surrounding the Mahasu brothers, and shows how the locals understand these changes by emphasizing the dominant role of humans in the decisions of the gods. The locals are also constantly testing the authenticity of the human mediumship. Thus, the book presents the claim that the gap between local conceptions of divinity and the perceptions of anthropologists regarding gods may be narrower than we think.
The Biography of a God: Mahasu in the Himalayas is based on ethnographic research, resulting in an important contribution to the study of Indian village deities, Himalayan Hinduism, lived Hinduism, and the anthropology of religion.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sharabi, Asaf

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Östliche Religionen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Table of contents

Notes on Transliteration

Acknowledgment

Meet Mahasu

1. Gods on the Road

Getting into the Field

The Devta Institution

2. A Stormy Biography

Mahasu Appears Vs.1

Mahasu Appears Vs.2

The Gods They are a-Changin’

3. The Four Brothers

Personalities and Identities

The Four Kings

Mahasu as Shiva

Gods Between Here and Everywhere

4. Local Traditions in Times of Change

Local Rituals Fade, Gods Persevere

From Carnivore to Vegetarian

When Gods Settle Down

The Agency of Mahasu

5. Communicating with Mahasu

The God's Management

Mediums

Talking with Mahasu

Testing Mediums

Agency, Doubt, Mediation

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Sharabi, Asaf
Dr. Asaf Sharabi, Senior Lecturer in the School of Behavioral Sciences at the Peres Academic Center, obtained his doctorate in social anthropology in 2010 from Bar Ilan University. In his doctoral thesis he explored the encounter between religion and contemporary modernity, in the context of the religious revival movement in Israel. In 2013, he undertook an ethnographic study in the Western Himalayas, a study in which he intermittently engaged to this day. The research focuses on the religious experience and changing theological perceptions relating to the image of local gods, especially Mahasu. In 2021, his research Gods and goddesses in the Western Himalayas - a comparative ethnographic research won a research grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). His research interests include anthropology and sociology of religion, ritual healing, anthropology of gods, anthropology of Hinduism, and anthropology of Judaism.