Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism
Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism
$63.00
USDWestern scholarship has largely ignored the practice of venerating the physical remains of the Buddha, a practice that has been a central focus of both monastic and lay Buddhists for more than two millennia. This study draws on textual and archaeological evidence from India and Sri Lanka to examine the place of relic veneration in the history of South Asian Buddhism. It contributes to current work on the history of Western Buddhology, to the discipline of religious studies, and to the history of Indian and Sri Lankan Buddhism.
- A serious study which examines the practice of venerating the physical remains of the Buddha
- Draws on and integrates specialist literature on South Asia and theoretical work in religious studies
- Provides an important and accessible survey of the literature
Reviews & endorsements
"A carefully researched and theoretically engaged study.... A first-rate analysis that belongs in every academic library with significant holdings on Buddhism." John Clifford Holt, Religious Studies Review
"...Trainor's study includes careful translations from the original P^D-ali and does a good job of researching a wide variety of selective sources." Nirmala Salgado, Journal of the American Oriental Society
Product details
June 1997Hardback
9780521582803
240 pages
236 × 160 × 19 mm
0.46kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- 1. Orientations
- 2. Buddhist relic veneration in India
- 3. Relics and the establishment of the Buddhist sasana in Sri Lanka
- 4. Paradigms of presence
- 5. Ritual and the presence of the Buddha
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index.
