James G. Lochtefeld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386141
- eISBN:
- 9780199866380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386141.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights ...
More
Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights through written records (bahi) of previous pilgrim visits. Pandas formerly provided for a client’s every need, including food, lodging, travel arrangements, lending money, or religious rituals, for which pandas received fees and gifts. Better infrastructure and wider social changes have eroded panda status from “family members” to ritual contractors, but the pandas’ control over the final death rite, asthivisarjana, provides a secure if marginal economic niche. Pandas have responded to social pressures by forming local associations—both to promote their collective interests and to safeguard Hardwar’s sanctity. The most significant association is the Ganga Sabha (“Ganges Assembly”), which arose during the 1914–17 protest against damming the Ganges.Less
Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights through written records (bahi) of previous pilgrim visits. Pandas formerly provided for a client’s every need, including food, lodging, travel arrangements, lending money, or religious rituals, for which pandas received fees and gifts. Better infrastructure and wider social changes have eroded panda status from “family members” to ritual contractors, but the pandas’ control over the final death rite, asthivisarjana, provides a secure if marginal economic niche. Pandas have responded to social pressures by forming local associations—both to promote their collective interests and to safeguard Hardwar’s sanctity. The most significant association is the Ganga Sabha (“Ganges Assembly”), which arose during the 1914–17 protest against damming the Ganges.
