2010/01/01 by Peter Flügel · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Anthropological Studies and Insights #Study and Philosophy of Religion #Cult #Veneration #Worship #Thriving #History of religions #Doctrine #Religious studies #History #Philosophy #Ancient history #Sociology #Theology #Social science
paper · doi:10.1163/156852710x501351
openalex publication_date 2010/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract This article gives an overview of recent findings on the thriving cult of bone relic stūpas in contemporary Jaina culture. Although Jaina doctrine rejects the worship of material objects, fieldwork in India on the hitherto unstudied current Jaina mortuary rituals furnished clear evidence for the ubiquity of bone relic stūpas and relic veneration across the Jaina sectarian spectrum. The article discusses a representative case and assesses the significance of the overall findings for the history of religions. It also offers a new theoretical explanation of the power of relics.