Author(s)
Arik MoranKeywords
Himachal Pradeshhuman sacrifice
karma
Khas
Kullu
Nar
ritual
scapegoat
shaktism
Tantra
Religions. Mythology. Rationalism
BL1-2790
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Show full item recordAbstract
Indic rites of purification aim to negate the law of karma by removing the residues of malignant past actions from their patrons. This principle is exemplified in the Kahika Mela, a rarely studied religious festival of the West Himalayan highlands (Himachal Pradesh, India), wherein a ritual specialist assumes karmic residues from large publics and then sacrificed to their presiding deity. British officials who had ‘discovered’ this purificatory rite at the turn of the twentieth century interpreted it as a variant of the universal ‘scapegoat’ rituals that were then being popularized by James Frazer and found it loosely connected to ancient Tantric practises. The However, observing a recent performance of the ritual significantly complicated this view. This paper proposes a novel reading of the Kahika Mela through the prism of karmic transference. Tracing the path of karmas from participants to ritual specialist and beyond, it delineates the logic behind the rite, revealing that the culminating act of human sacrifice is, in fact, secondary to the mysterious force that impels its acceptance.Date
2018-03-01Type
ArticleIdentifier
oai:doaj.org/article:c9168c1554624201932a0f0ef9cda4d72077-1444
10.3390/rel9030078
https://doaj.org/article/c9168c1554624201932a0f0ef9cda4d7