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Non-Mobility and Material Attachments in Early Medieval Indian Buddhism: Cases From Eastern India

Presenter:

· Elora Tribedy Delhi University (Delhi, India)

Timeslot:

07/27 | 09:40-10:00 UTC+2/CEST

Abstract

Pilgrimage can be interpreted as a means of reliving the idea of ‘self’ in an already instructed, preached or experienced space. The cyclic actions (journey back and forth) involved in the process of pilgrimage can be inferred as generating a state of elation, excitement, and gratification. Religious souvenirs can be considered of particular importance in extending the experience of such sacred moments. Religious souvenirs may also carry specific meaning and purpose for people being unable to visit (or revisit) the site of personal or religious importance. The present paper talks about the production and circulation of objects and specimens which can be interpreted as religious souvenirs from a few Buddhist pilgrimages and monastic sites of Bihar and Odisha state, situated in the eastern part of India dated from the 7th to 13th-century C.E. Examining religious souvenirs from these sites , the present speaker wishes to focus on two important yet less-highlighted themes in early Medieval Buddhism of Eastern India, firstly, the involvement of the non-monastic population in major and minor Buddhist pilgrimage and monastic sites, and secondly non-mobility to connectivity of Buddhist population inhabiting the interior landscape of Eastern India. Apart from eight great sites of Buddhist pilgrimage and oversees pilgrim network, there was a considerable amount of inland and regional religious journey connecting a range of Buddhist monasteries of this region. These religious souvenirs, made, bought or brought from a sacred site, were associated with the bodily and mental experience of holding, possessing and owning. Reflection on these can help us in understanding aspect