Cult of Dead Heroes: A Study on the Memorial Stones of Rajasthan

Abstract

This study seeks to look at the origin and evolution of the practice of erecting memorial stones in the region of Rajasthan, India, during the early medieval period (600–1300 CE). It is observed that the idea of erecting such memorials, which is associated with the Rajputs particularly, became a widely accepted social practice among other sections of the society. This study attempts to analyse the content and subject matter of these stones and investigates why they were erected, for whom they were erected, who commissioned them, and how the family of the deceased viewed such memorials erected primarily to commemorate the dead. In fact, their erection was no less a grand affair; the people who commissioned the building of memorials paid homage and reverence to their dead ancestors and worshipped them according to their own socio-religious practices.