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Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism

Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravada Tradition

Kevin Trainor author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:30th Apr '07

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Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism cover

This study examines the place of relic veneration in the history of South Asian Buddhism.

This study draws on textual and archaeological evidence to examine the place of relic veneration in the history of South Asian Buddhism. By analysing the abstract ideas, emotional orientations, and ritualized behaviours centred on the Buddha's material remains, the author contributes to the 'rematerializing' of Buddhism presently under way among Western scholars.This book is a serious study of relic veneration among South Asian Buddhists. Drawing on textual sources and archaeological evidence from India and Sri Lanka, including material rarely examined in the West, it looks specifically at the practice of relic veneration in the Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist tradition. The author portrays relic veneration as a technology of remembrance and representation which makes present the Buddha of the past for living Buddhists. By analysing the abstract ideas, emotional orientation and ritual behaviour centred on the Buddha's material remains, he contributes to the 'rematerializing' of Buddhism which is currently under way among Western scholars. This book is an excellent introduction to Buddhist relics. It is well written and accessible and will be read by scholars and serious students of Buddhism and religious studies for years to come.

"A carefully researched and theoretically engaged study.... A first-rate analysis that belongs in every academic library with significant holdings on Buddhism." John Clifford Holt, Religious Studies Review
"...Trainor's study includes careful translations from the original P^D-ali and does a good job of researching a wide variety of selective sources." Nirmala Salgado, Journal of the American Oriental Society

ISBN: 9780521036689

Dimensions: 228mm x 153mm x 9mm

Weight: 366g

240 pages