The Invisible Path of Karma in a Himalayan Purificatory Rite

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3302154
AutoresArik Moran (0000-0002-3451-2050, University of Haifa, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume9
Fascículo3
Páginas78
Data de publicação2018-03-12
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel9030078
OpenAlexW2790184833
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas11

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

Ancient history · Archaeology · Charisma · Karma · Petitioner · Political science · Prism · Rite · Rite of passage · Sacrifice · Scapegoat · Theology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Martial Arts: Techniques, Psychology, and Education · Philosophy · Religious studies