The Hindu rite of entry into heaven
Subtitle: and other essays on death and ancestors in Hinduism
By: David M. Knipe
Edition: First edition.
Series: Hindu tradition series -- number 8; Hindu tradition series -- number 8.
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidass Publishers Private Limited
Published: 2019
Place of publication: Delhi, India
Language: eng
Number of pages: 325
ISBN-13: 9788120842441
Subjects: Hindu funeral rites and ceremonies; Hinduism; Rituals; Death; Ancestor worship
Description: "This book comprises a smorgasbord of essays on death, dying, funeral rituals, ancestor ceremonies, ghosts, and other subjects in the realm of Mrityu, the god of Death, and aparam, the Sanskrit and Telugu word for human End Time. The focus stretches from the Ṛg Veda to present-day Hinduism, textual and non-textual. The title of the book is that of the first essay, an ethnographic and Vedic/Classical Sanskrit textual study of the sapiṇḍa ritual that occurs on the twelfth day of a full-scale, textually accurate funeral. That field work was accomplished during a year-long study of funeral rituals in Varanasi, the ancient city of Kāśī where it is most auspicious for Hindus to die and be cremated in a final sacrifice of the body."--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa : the Hindu rite of entry into heaven; title: Śrāddha; title: When a wife dies first : the mūsivāyanam and a female Brahman ritualist in coastal Andhra; title: Constructing a provisional body for the preta in Hindu funerals; title: Zur rolle des "provisorischen Körpers" für den Verstorbenen in hinduistichen Bestattungen; title: Hindu eschatology; title: Becoming Agni; title: Sowing for the grim reaper : gardens of the preta; title: Make that sesame on rice, please! : Appetites of the dead in Hinduism; title: Deities, devotion, and "the drop edge of yonder"; title: Jīrṇa : reflections of Andhra āhitāgnis on old age and dying; title: Bhūta; title: Hindu ancestor rituals; title: Searching beneath symbols : hidden agendas regarding death; title: Self-sacrifice; title: Frightening ghosts, affable ghosts; title: A review of John Bowker : The meanings of death; title: A review of Matthew Sayers : Feeding the dead : ancestor worship in ancient India.