6. Wood, Water, and Waste: Material Aspects of Mortuary Practices in South Asia
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | 6. Wood, Water, and Waste: Material Aspects of Mortuary Practices in South Asia - Roots of Wisdom, Branches of Devotion |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Albertina Nugteren; Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Netherlands |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | Religious Studies |
| 4. | Subject | Keyword(s) | plants in Asian religion; Hinduism; cremation; rare woods; Hindu funerary rites; sacred nature of flora; trees in religion; plants as food; plants as medicine; plants in ritual and myth |
| 5. | Subject | Subject classification | South Asian Religions |
| 6. | Description | Abstract | Albertina Nugteren’s chapter, which brings the second section to conclusion, maintains a focus on ecology but privileges an analysis of tradition and ritual praxis, namely the burning of bodies as part of the final sacrifice (antyeṣṭi). By relating prescriptive Sanskrit texts to fieldwork conducted in Nepal, the author explores the centrality of fire in Hindu funerary rites, the ongoing insistence on open pyres, and the religious symbolism investing in trees. The staggering quantity of dry wood required for such practices – preferably even enriched with rare woods such as sandalwood – is being challenged by today’s environmental realities, yet emerging alternatives such as electric crematoria are largely seen as clashing with a consolidated tradition. |
| 7. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Equinox Publishing Ltd |
| 8. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | |
| 9. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 01-Jun-2016 |
| 10. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 11. | Type | Type | |
| 12. | Format | File format | |
| 13. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/30833 |
| 14. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1558/equinox.30833 |
| 15. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | Equinox eBooks Publishing; Roots of Wisdom, Branches of Devotion |
| 16. | Language | English=en | en |
| 18. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) | Indian sub-continent; Nepal |
| 19. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd |