Ehud Halperin
Biographic Data
| ID | 3960191 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ehud Halperin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ehud |
| FAMILY NAME | Halperin |
| SIGNATURE | HALPERIN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tel Aviv University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0308-7052 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Gods on the Move
Local myths and lived theology in the Western Himalaya reveal that local village deities are perceived to be present in the world not only in spirit, grace, or power, but as embodied individual beings who physically roam the landscape at will. Through an examination of ethnographic data, the study contends that this perception is significantly influenced by unique and locally popular palanquin rituals. Employing Birgit Meyer’s concept of sensatio…
Keeping (in) Touch
This article examines how residents of the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh interpret environmental disasters as expressions of the agency of local deities ( devtās ), arguing that the intimacy between gods and landscape is constituted as much through material and ritual practice as through narrative. Taking the devastating floods of 2025 as a point of departure, I show that many villagers understood the disaster not merely as a climatic event bu…
William S. Sax, In the Valley of the Kauravas
At the Center of Power
Forms of divine kingship, historically prevalent in South Asia, remain vividly manifested in the annual Daśahrā festival of the Kullu Valley (Himachal Pradesh). The valley is the historical seat of the Kullu Kingdom, whose scion is still called rājā . Central to this kingdom’s formation and sustenance are the devtā s—local village deities regarded as sovereigns of their respective communities. This article argues that the constitution of sovereig…
Till Kingdom Come
Lokesh Ohri's book is a historically informed ethnographic study of the realm of Mahasu Devta, a local Himalayan god who is considered the divine ruler of the region of Jaunsar-Bawar, which forms part of the contemporary Himalayan Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Drawing on materials from as early as Nepalese Gurkha rule (1791–1815), through colonial times and up to (and mostly) the present, Ohri uncovers the deep-seated structu…
Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess
The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess
Haḍimbā is a major village goddess in the Kullu Valley of the West Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous, rural area known as the Land of Gods. This book is an ethnographic study of Haḍimbā and her dynamic, mutually formative relationship with her community of followers. It explores the part played by the goddess in her devotees’ lives, particularly in their encounters with players, powers, and ideas both local and external, s…
Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena
Palanquins of the Gods
Village deities in the West Indian Himalayas, who manifest in temples, in possessed oracles, and in moving vehicles, intervene in various aspects of the private and public lives of their devotees. As such, these devis and devtas (goddesses and gods) emerge, from both indigenous theologies and scholarly theories, as complex agents whose cognition is distributed among community members and whose agency is articulated and enacted in public rituals. …
Winds of Change
Journal Article Winds of Change: Religion and Climate in the Western Himalayas Get access Ehud Halperin Ehud Halperin *Ehud Halperin, Department of East Asian Studies, Gilman Building, Tel-Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel. E-mail: [email protected], I would like to express my sincere thanks to John Stratton Hawley and Rachel Fell McDermott for their very helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this paper, and for the ano…
Palanquins of the Gods
Village deities in the West Indian Himalayas, who manifest in temples, in possessed oracles, and in moving vehicles, intervene in various aspects of the private and public lives of their devotees. As such, these devis and devtas (goddesses and gods) emerge, from both indigenous theologies and scholarly theories, as complex agents whose cognition is distributed among community members and whose agency is articulated and enacted in public rituals. …
Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena
Winds of Change
Journal Article Winds of Change: Religion and Climate in the Western Himalayas Get access Ehud Halperin Ehud Halperin *Ehud Halperin, Department of East Asian Studies, Gilman Building, Tel-Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel. E-mail: [email protected], I would like to express my sincere thanks to John Stratton Hawley and Rachel Fell McDermott for their very helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this paper, and for the ano…
Palanquins of the Gods
Village deities in the West Indian Himalayas, who manifest in temples, in possessed oracles, and in moving vehicles, intervene in various aspects of the private and public lives of their devotees. As such, these devis and devtas (goddesses and gods) emerge, from both indigenous theologies and scholarly theories, as complex agents whose cognition is distributed among community members and whose agency is articulated and enacted in public rituals. …
The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess
Haḍimbā is a major village goddess in the Kullu Valley of the West Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous, rural area known as the Land of Gods. This book is an ethnographic study of Haḍimbā and her dynamic, mutually formative relationship with her community of followers. It explores the part played by the goddess in her devotees’ lives, particularly in their encounters with players, powers, and ideas both local and external, s…
Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena
Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess
Till Kingdom Come
Lokesh Ohri's book is a historically informed ethnographic study of the realm of Mahasu Devta, a local Himalayan god who is considered the divine ruler of the region of Jaunsar-Bawar, which forms part of the contemporary Himalayan Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Drawing on materials from as early as Nepalese Gurkha rule (1791–1815), through colonial times and up to (and mostly) the present, Ohri uncovers the deep-seated structu…
William S. Sax, In the Valley of the Kauravas
At the Center of Power
Forms of divine kingship, historically prevalent in South Asia, remain vividly manifested in the annual Daśahrā festival of the Kullu Valley (Himachal Pradesh). The valley is the historical seat of the Kullu Kingdom, whose scion is still called rājā . Central to this kingdom’s formation and sustenance are the devtā s—local village deities regarded as sovereigns of their respective communities. This article argues that the constitution of sovereig…
Gods on the Move
Local myths and lived theology in the Western Himalaya reveal that local village deities are perceived to be present in the world not only in spirit, grace, or power, but as embodied individual beings who physically roam the landscape at will. Through an examination of ethnographic data, the study contends that this perception is significantly influenced by unique and locally popular palanquin rituals. Employing Birgit Meyer’s concept of sensatio…
Keeping (in) Touch
This article examines how residents of the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh interpret environmental disasters as expressions of the agency of local deities ( devtās ), arguing that the intimacy between gods and landscape is constituted as much through material and ritual practice as through narrative. Taking the devastating floods of 2025 as a point of departure, I show that many villagers understood the disaster not merely as a climatic event bu…
Anthropological Studies and Insights (8 works) · History (5 works) · South Asian Studies and Conflicts (5 works) · Archaeology (4 works) · Hinduism (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Ancient history (3 works) · Ethnography (3 works) · Geography (3 works)