Western Himalayan temple records : : state, pilgrimage, ritual and legality in Chamba / / by Mahesh Sharma.

• Superior document: Brill's Indological library, v. 31
• Author: Sharma, Mahesh.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's Indological library ; v. 31.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (420 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

While numerous studies exist on major South-Asian temples, surprisingly little is known about ‘minor shrines’ and ‘lesser states’. Here fifty-five new documents, in a western-Himalayan script and language, and belonging to a small Siddha shrine, redress this remarkable gap in our knowledge. The documents cover a wide spectrum—from revenue grants to those dealing with ritual, pilgrimage, legality and temple-economy—thus building a picture of the relationship between state and shrine, and particularly so for the minor centres: their popularity and relationship with major temples; mundane matters; notices, petitions, and law-suits. It becomes clear how ‘lesser states’, despite their limited resources, patronized numerous small shrines, along with major temples; and the role played by the Nath-Siddha-ascetics in creating consent-to-rule, acculturation, and constructing hybridity between the Hindu and Tibetan-Buddhist traditions.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- A western Himalayan kingdom : the state formation and cultural complex, 700-1650 CE -- The state and the portal of Charpat : small shrine-big symbol -- Context : language, measures, and festivals -- Documents -- Epilogue : a small state and the little shrine -- Appendices.