Abstract
Several 17th century sources (European travel literature and Mughal historiography) record the practice of self-mutilation, and possibly ritual suicide, at the Hindu temple of Vajreśvarī (Kāngṛā, HP), an important place of pilgrimage related to the Śakti cult. Blood-spilling, symbolizing fertility, played a central role in these sacrifices, which were discontinued in the 18th century as they entered in conflict with the non-violent view of Hinduism supported by urban elites.
Highlights
Diversas fuentes literarias del siglo XVII registran la práctica de automutilaciones, y posiblemente suicidios rituales, en el templo hindú de Vajreśvarī (Kāngṛā, HP), un importante centro de peregrinación asociado al culto de Śakti
Crouching in between the lush Panjābī plains and the desolate TransHimalayan highlands, these states —and Kāngṛā among them— lie in the margins of Indian geography; and let us advance that margins and periphery are concepts which will recur in this article
These remote territories have always been conditioned by their geographical location: not really far, in a straight line, from first-order cultural and political centres such as Delhi or Lahore, historically speaking the contact with them has tended to be somewhat loose due to their inconvenient position in the Śivāliks and the steep Himalayan foothills
Summary
In the past an independent rājpūt state, belongs nowadays to the territory of Himachal Pradesh, in Northwest India. Crouching in between the lush Panjābī plains and the desolate TransHimalayan highlands, these states —and Kāngṛā among them— lie in the margins of Indian geography; and let us advance that margins and periphery are concepts which will recur in this article These remote territories have always been conditioned by their geographical location: not really far, in a straight line, from first-order cultural and political centres such as Delhi or Lahore, historically speaking the contact with them has tended to be somewhat loose due to their inconvenient position in the Śivāliks and the steep Himalayan foothills. Nowadays ritual and devotional activity at Vajreśvarī revolves around a quite standardized Durgā cult, but literary sources reveal that some 300 years ago things were different, and the hilltop shrine at Kāngṛā was renowned as the scene for a most unusual type of sacrifice For this very reason, despite being located off the main commercial. To know more about it, we must turn to our primary sources, where we find once and again the elements that constitute the grammar of this particular cult —but the different versions do not completely accord, so a reconstruction of actual facts is more than difficult
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