Description
Book SynopsisThis is a book about religious conceptions of trees within the cultural world of tree worship at the tree shrines of northern India. Sacred trees have been worshipped for millennia in India and today tree worship continues there among all segments of society. In the past, tree worship was regarded by many Western anthropologists and scholars of religion as a prime example of childish animism or decadent ''''popular religion.'''' More recently this aspect of world religious cultures is almost completely ignored in the theoretical concerns of the day. David Haberman hopes to demonstrate that by seriously investigating the world of Indian tree worship, we can learn much about not only this prominent feature of the landscape of South Asian religion, but also something about the cultural construction of nature as well as religion overall. The title People Trees relates to the content of this book in at least six ways. First, although other sacred trees are examined, the pipal-arguably the m
Trade Reviewengaging and accessible ... Haberman's book brings attention to an important yet understudied aspect of Hindu religious experience, providing a wealth of ethnographic detail, along with compelling theoretical reflections on the limits of concepts such as animism and anthropomorphism ... Recommended. * R.C. Rinehart, CHOICE *
The book provides rich insights * Deepa Idnani, South Asia Research *
Haberman's People Trees is an excellent piece of scholarship * Harrison King, Religion *
This is a positive book. * Joshua Nash, Journal of Hindu Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Note on Translation and Transliteration ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Root Issues ; Chapter 2: Tree Worship in India ; Chapter 3: King of Trees ; Chapter 4: Abode of Ghosts and Saturn ; Chapter 5: Faces of the Goddess ; Chapter 6: Trees of Immortality ; Chapter 7: Arboreal Reflections ; Glossary ; Bibliography ; Index ; Notes
