From Material to Deity: Indian Rituals of Consecration

Consecration of divine images through pratistha transforms material forms into deities within evolving post-Vedic ritual traditions.

Consecration ceremony of an image of a god, known as pratistha in Sanskrit, is one of the most important rituals in Hinduism. Only through the performance of this ceremony the nature of an image changes from material to a deity. Pratistha ceremony was simple in origin but developed into a very complex system in course of time. It contains a number of elements which are common in other Hindu rituals and are even mentioned in Buddhist Tantric texts. In the Vedic texts there are no descriptions of pratistha. It was fully described in many texts, both Tantric and non-Tantric, for the first time in post-Vedic period. This ceremony is therefore a post-Vedic creation, but it also contains many Vedic ritual elements which underwent more or less great changes. An intensive study of the installation ceremony of an image of a god enables one to clarify the formation and development of post-Vedic rituals both in Tantric and non-Tantric schools, on the one hand, and to make a perceptive analysis of the ritual elements of post-Vedic rituals on the other. This collection of essays by Japanese scholars deals with the subject through a study of Vedic and post-Vedic texts and is expected to contribute to a deeper understanding of post-Vedic rituals of India by focussing on the pratistha ritual.

Shingo Einoo is Professor of Indology at the University of Tokyo. He has published a number of important studies in both Vedic and post-Vedic rituals, including Die Caturmasya order die altindischen Tertialopfer, Dargestellt nach den Vorschriften der Brahmanas und der Srautasutras (1988). The Formation of the Puja Ceremony' (1996) and The Autumn Goddess Festival: Described in the Puranas' (1999). Jun Takashima is Professor at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He has published a number of important studies including Diksa in the Tantraloka' (1992) and The Doctrine of the Earliest Saiva AgamasDoctrine part of the Svayambhuva-agama' (1995). He has also edited Pasupata Studies by Minoru Hara (2002).