RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN EASTERN INDIA ESCHMANN MEMORIAL LECTURES - Edited by · G.C. Tripathi Hermann Kulke Published by THE ESCHMANN MEMORIAL FUND Bhubaneshwar Distributed by MANOHAR PUBI,ISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS New Delhi Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA /IL D f3l l°2J5 ·ct-t X3Lr I 11 Jf © G.C. Tripathi and Hermann Kulke First Published 1994 Published by • THE ESCHMANN MEMORIAL FUND Utkal University Bani Bihar, Bhubaneshwar-4, Orissa Printed at Indian Press Pvt. Ltd., Pannalal Road, Allahabad-2 Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA • PREFACE It is with a sense of deep satisfaction that we present this collection of lectures held in the memory of Dr. (Ms.) Anncharlott Eschmann ( 1941-1977), an exceptionally prom-. ising young scholar of Indology and Comparative Religions from Heidelberg who died at the age of thirtyfive and a half at Delhi. Within an academic life of ten years, her field of study stretched from Mexico to Israel to Orissa. She worked on the religious beliefs of American Indians, Christians, Jews, Hin dus and tribal people and brilliantly illuminated many aspects of religions which had hitherto remained unnoticed or ig nored. The lectures collected here touch an umber ofs ubjects in which Eschmann had a major interest and pertain mainly to the studies connected with Orissa or the adjoining regions of India. The idea to initiate a series ot lJr. Anncharlott Eschmann Memorial Lectures was suggested for the first time by Dr. Radhanath Rath, Editor of Sama), and by Sri Girija Patnaik at a memorial meeting held at the Council of Cultural Relations at Cuttack after Anncharloit Eschmann's death on 6.4.1977. On the occasion of her birthday on 24.9.1977 Prof. Prabhat Mukherjee delivered a lecture on 'Theistic Religious Move ments in Orissa" at an informal memorial meeting at the Max Muller Bhavan in Delhi. The first Anncharlott Eschmann Memorial Lecture was delivered on 24.9.1978 by Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan in the presence ofAnncharlott's parentsatSuchana Bhavan, Bhubaneshwar. On the occasion of this lecture which was introduced by Dr. Bidyadhar Mishra, the-then Vice Chancellor of Utkal Univrsity, Hon'ble Sri Sukanta Kishore Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA . RELIGION AND SOCIE1Y IN EASTERN INDIA VI Ray, ChiefJ ustice ofOrissaHigh Court, released the book The Cult ofjagganatha and the Regional Tradition ofOrissa, co edited by Anncharlott Eschmann. Dr. G.C. Tripathi and Dr. H. Kulke delivered talks on the life of Anncharlott Eschmann and highlighted her scholarly.contribution to Orissan studies. The volume contains lectures delivered between 1978 and 1987. The editors regret that the seventh Memorial Lecture, delivered by Prof. Surajit Sinha on 15.1.985 on "Myths, Sym bols and Rit11als connected with Pre-colonial State Formation in Tribal Regions of Eastern India", was not available for publication. We also crave the indulgence of our readers for the inconvenience that they shall face in reading the lecture of Dr. Tripathi which is included here in the form of an addendum. The editors sincerely hope that the publication of this volume will help perpetuate the memory of Anncharlott Eschmann and would encourage research on the great reli gious traditions of India to which Anncharlott Eschmann had devoted her life. -G. C. Tripathi, H. Kulke Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA WITH TEARS AND PRIDE The newspapers carried a small photograph, followed by a couple of lines, Anncharlott Eschmann, the German daugh ter of the Oriya people was no more. She breathed her last in Delhi on ~1977. She was-struck by malaria while searching for the prototype of Jagannath in the forests of Ganjam District. It wa a shock for many souls. The world lot a scholar who will be immortal in the annals of Orissa. Her mortal body passed away at the tender age of thirty-six and yet she will live on, thanks to her dedication to research. Injorandi Gadi tears rolled down the Mahima Dharma hermits, people who have renounced the world. The Adivasis ofKoraput wailed in sorrow and pen of some scholars came to a halt, at least for a little while. Anncharlott had made Orissa her home. Tears came to my eyes when I came across her letters, filled with deep emotional attachment to Orissa, kept in the files of Eschmann Memorial Lectures. Anncharlott died. There is a stanza in Oriya literature wl1ose translation reads like this : Your mortal body has been taken away by the flames ofc remation ground But the famed body ofy ours will remain immortal till the earth goes round. Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN EASTERN INDIA VIII Anncharlott lives. On the very day the news of her sudden demise reached Orissa, a memorial meeting was held at Cuttack under the auspices of Dr. Radhanath Rath, Editor, SamaJ and President of the Council of Cultural Relations. During the meeting a suggestion was made to set up an Anncharlott Eschmann Memorial Committee which was es tablished in 1979 under the auspices of the Utkal University. As the General Secretary of the Council, I am happy to note that celebrated scholars from several countries have delivered Memorial Lectures on a subject close to her areas of research. We are gratified that the volume of those lectures is edited by her colleagues Dr. G.C. Tripathi and Dr. Hermann Kulke. with They have jointly· edited Anncharlott Eschmann the Cult ofjagannath and the Regional Tradition ofOrissa.. In a world of vanishing remembrance it is a unique event that a Memo rial Lecture was instituted in the name of a German girl, a foreigner and this alone speaks volumes of the impact she created amongst her friends and associates. Her parents inspired in her love for India and Indology. As I write these lines, the picture of her parents flash upon my eyes. Anncharlott Eschmann was a dear friend of mine, of my family. She was part of it and all of us join in paying tribute to this great life that ended in such a small time. GIRIJA BHUSHAN PATNAIK General Secret.ary • Council of Cultural Relations, Cuttack & Member, The Eschmann Memorial Committee Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CONTENTS HERMANN KuLKE : In Memoriam Anncharlott Eschmann 1 G.C. TRIPATHI : Dr. Eschmarin's Contribution to Orissan Studies 7 KAP1IA VATSYAYANA: Sastra and Prayoga: Marga and Desi; On conceptual Frameworks of Indian Culture 15 RoMA CHAUDHURY: Vedanta and Sufism: A Comparative Study (with special reference to Bengal) 49 GEORG PFEFFER: The Dualistic Culture of thejuang 103 GONTHER-DIETZ SoNTHEIMER : The Vana and the .K$etra : The Tribal Background of Some Famous Cults 117 JOHANNES LAPING : Science and Religion in Indian History 165 ~ta THOMAS DONALDSON : Sapta/ Matrka Images in Orissa 189 Appendix ANNCHARLOTT ESCHMANN : Sign and Icon: Symbolism in the Indian Folk Religion 211 Addendum GAYA CHARAN TRIPATHI : The Idea of Purity and its Importance in Hinduism 237 L1sr OF PUBLICATIONS by Anncharlott Eschmann 261 Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - I • I I I I Go gle Org111a from D1g1t1zed UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ------ ·----"' . Google Original from Digitized by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Amuharlott EuhmllM Google Original from °'g'""d by UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA