About the Book

This book is the first analysis of the concept of disease, possesion and healing in the major South Asian religious traditions. It discusses forms of divine possession or affliction and health issues at the crossroad of religious studies and medical anthropology. In order to avoid the classic, and problematic, chronological subdivision of religions according to their structure, the book is divided in four geographical areas with the city of Varanasi, a highly powerful site in South Asia, symbolically identified as the centre. Through this framework, the book emphasises the centrality of bodily and psychological experiences, both individual and collective, as ways to understanding and explaining religion in South Asian cultural contexts. It shows that debates over South Asian indigenous understandings of disease as forms of possession or affliction have come to gain visibility in and around discussions of social and religious matters as well as the constitution of community and gendered identities, At a time where the insurgence of new pandemics and a growing debate on health issues in a religious context is prominent, this timely contribution facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of South Asian cultures. It consolidates and promotes indigenous ways to understanding physical and mental imbalances through diverse conceptualisations of the divine.