Cover; Series; Rites of the God-King; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations for Major Primary Sources; Introduction; 1. The Inception of a Ritual Category; 2. The Ritual Culture of Appeasement; 3. Varāhamihira's Astrological Ritualism; 4. Kingship in a Portentous Age; 5. Signs in the Gods, Gods in the Pots; 6. Ritual Change and the Problem of Presence; Conclusion; Appendices; Glossary of Sanskrit Terms; Bibliography; Author Index; Subject Index
Summary
Rites of the God-King offers a critical revision of mainstream Hinduism from the perspective of the life of a single ritual from medieval India. Drawing theoretical connections to modern ethnographies, it raises questions about the nature of kingship and priesthood, image-worship, and ritual change