Sacred Complex
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• Vidyarthi conducted an extensive study of sacred
city of Gaya and developed the concept of ‘Sacred
complex’ which he described in renowned
book Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya (1961).
• Why Gaya ?
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Gaya derives its name from the mythological demon
Gayasur (which literally means Gaya the demon)
• Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also
headquarter of Gaya District.
• Gaya is situated 100 km south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar.
This ancient city grew on the banks of Phalgu River (Niranjana, as
mentioned in Ramayana).
• This place is considered holy among the Hindus, the Buddhists
and the Jains.
• It is surrounded by small rocky hills (Mangla-Gauri, Shringa-
Sthan, Ram-Shila and Brahmayoni) by three sides and the river
flowing on the fourth (eastern) side.
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Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi
• 28th February 1931 in a village
near Patna.
• In 1950 he secured B.A degree.
From Patna College.
• M.A. Degree (1953) in
Anthropology from Lucknow
University.
• L. P. Vidyarthi was taught in
Lucknow University by D. N.
Majumdar.
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1958
• Vidyarthi obtained his master's degree from
Lucknow University in anthropology,
studying under D. N. Majumdar.
• He received PhD from Chicago University in
1958 under the supervision of Robert
Redfield and McKim Marriott.
• His doctoral dissertation was The sacred
complex of a traditional city of Northern
India.
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1953
• He started his career as a professor at Ranchi
College (under Bihar University), and served
there from 1953 to 1956.
• He worked as a professor of anthropology at
Ranchi University from 1958 to 1968, and
became head of the department of
anthropology in 1968.
• He served at this position till his death in 1985.
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1951
• In 1951, Vidyarthi learned of the Maler tribe, which
according to him was one of the few primitive
tribes of great anthropological interest in India.
• When he got to know about the excessive
primitiveness of the isolated Malers, he decided
to make them the object of his scientific
investigation.
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• Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi (28 February 1931 – 1 December
1985) was an Indian anthropologist.
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Books
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Contribution :
Sacred Complex In Hindu Gaya (1961),
The Maler: Nature-Man- Spirit Complex in Hill Tribe of Bihar
(1963),
Cultural Contours of Tribal Bihar (1964)
Trends in World Anthropology (1980)
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Fellowships and awards
Ford Foundation Award (1957),University of Chicago fellowship (1957),
Indo- USSR Cultural Exchange Fellowship (1959), Rome Civic Reception Bronze
Medal (1976) and many others.
He directed large scale research projects like Urban Pattern of Ranchi (1960),
The Birhor Action Research Project (1966),
Sacred Complex in Kashi (1972-76) etc
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He suggests three components namely, a sacred geography,
a set of sacred performances and sacred specialists which
collectively constitute Sacred complex.
Sacred Geography
Sacred Performance
Sacred Specialists
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Sacred Specialists
SANSKRITIK priests
FEUDALISTIC priests
FOLK Priests
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Sacred Geography
• What determines what makes a site or place sacred is if
people view the location worthy of respect and dedication,
and believed to be holy.
• Both Great tradition and little tradition are in continuity and
combination
• Premises of the temple (Great tradition)
• Plant, Animal, snake (little Tradition)
• Nepal Janakpur Temple of Rama > Temple of
Rajarajeshwar > Animal sacrifice
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Sacred Performance
• Aarati
• Havan
• Japa
• Yajna
• Recitation
• Worship
• Artistic performance
• Song dance etc
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• In recent times, due to the
process of modification
and transformation, the
secular zone of Gaya has
been expanding at the cost
of shrinking sacred zone.
• One of the main sacred
performances being
performed at Gaya is Gaya
Shraddha (form of sacrifice
to ancestral spirits).
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• All the sacred performances are led by Gayawal Brahmins
(an orthodox priestly caste).
• The Gayawal Brahmins have jajmani relationship with
patrons located in various parts of the Hindu universe.
• Pilgrims, from different parts of the country and from
different levels of culture, interact at the sacred
complexes.
• Hence the sacred complexes are regarded as centres of
civilization.
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Nature-Man- Spirit complex
• Professor Vidyarthi studied Sauria Paharia tribe (Malers) of
Sahebganj district and described the complex phenomenon
‘Nature-Man-Spirit complex’.
• ‘Nature’- Malers and their ecological surroundings.
• ‘Man’ signified the social institutions of the tribe such as family
and marriage.
• Under the term ‘Spirit’ he included the notion of spirit and
supernatural world, as evident in life of the Malers.
• Maler include worship offered to Gosaiyan (spirits) on different
occasions and rituals
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• He studied man in relation with man.
• Lastly he presented the four types of Maler spirits,
• (Gossaiyan — the benevolent spirits,
• Jiwe Urrkya — the ancestors,
• Alchi — evil spirits and
• Chergani — spiritual power of a witch or
witchcraft)
• in a framework of sacred geography, sacred
performances, and sacred specialists.
• Nature, Man and spirit interact of necessity.
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Tribal and folklore study
• His book titled ‘Cultural Contours of Tribal Bihar’
(1966) throws light upon various aspects of social
institutions of tribes of Chota Nagpur.
• The book ‘Tribal Culture of India’ (1976) authored by
him and Dr. B.K. Roy provides comprehensive
information on folklore, art, course of life and even
matriliny and polyandry in tribal India.
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• He has collected valuable information and
analyzed folklore of Maler associated
with their ecological setting, family,
economics, religion and cultural history,
which he mentioned in his book on Maler
(1963).
• He had keen interest in folklore of Magahi,
Bhojpuri and tribal zones of Bihar.
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Issues related to Applied and Action
Anthropology
• In 1967, a task force was appointed under him to
study the effect of various kinds of planning on the
tribal population.
• He was thus able to formulate plans for tribals that
suited them.
• This was included in his work Applied Anthropology
in India (1968).
• In 1968, he wrote on the effect of industrialization
among tribal societies.
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• A product of man, numerous elements, events, rituals,
institutions and practices of culture have been
explored in terms of their relationship and
interaction with nature and spirits.
• Whether the ingredients of the latter determine the
former, or it is an equation of more adaptations is also
have made in nature man spirit complex.
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• Forests surround the Malers and mainly exiling it in
the context of its forests can have comprehensive
understanding of this culture. In addition to providing
land for slash and burn cultivation a main source of
Maler economy the forests provide them with food,
drink, shelter, medicine etc.
• He discovered that every moment of the Maler life
was profoundly influenced by nature on the one
hand and spirit on the other.
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Pradip Singh in ―Nature –Man-Spirit complex
of hill tribe: A Restudy
• He restudied the same Maler villages after a period of
over two decades, which L.P. Vidyarthi did in fifties.
Highlighting determinism‘ and possibilism‘
phenomena of ecology, he boils down to a mutual
interaction preview of cultural ecology.
• Susceptible to change; the reasons being
Hinduisation, Christianization, Industrialization,
welfare agencies, political parties etc.
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Indifferent attitude to slash and burn cultivation.
Hunting is on the decline.
Religious performances and worship are done more as a tradition
and less devotion.
The major areas of Maler life and culture have continued to be intact
because the ecology and supernatural world continue largely to
remain the same.
Nature and spirit still determine the Maler life.
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Das Gupta in ―A study in Nature – Man-
Spirit complex
• He has again concentrated on the study of interaction of
man with spirit and nature with reference to Ho tribe of
Kolhan.
• in the first part, ecological basis of culture is expressed.
• Man to man interaction is searched n the second part
covering family, clan, village community and tribe.
• The influence of the supernatural world on Ho life is
exhibited in parts third.
• This is attempted in the background of sacred geography,
sacred specialists and sacred performances.
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R. K. Prasad in ―The Parahaiyas: A study in
Nature-Man-Sprit complex (hill, valley and plain)
R. K. Sinha in - A note on the Nature-Man-Spirit
complex of a tribe (Pando)
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REFERENCES
1.Hasnain, N. “General Anthropology, Revised.” (2003): 3-9.
2.Upadhyay, V. S., & Pandey, G. (1993). History of
anthropological thought. Concept Publishing Company.
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Civilization -Robert Redfield
• The whole of Indian culture can be studied with the help
of these two concepts ‘Little tradition’ and “Great
tradition”.
• These two concepts are based on the idea that the
civilization and social organization have a tradition
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• For analyzing the relationship and the ceaseless
interaction between rural and urban societies, the
concepts of little and great traditions, which
Redfield proposed on the basis of his study of
Mexican communities, have been found to be quite
useful.
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GREAT TRADITION
• The tradition of the literati is known as the ‘great tradition’, which
has the following characteristics:
• It is the tradition of the lettered people who are few in number.
• They are reflective, i.e. they think about the tradition, make it
sophisticated and systematize it, thus making it universal.
• This tradition is cultivated in separate and distinct institutions,
such as temples, mosques, churches, synagogues, etc.
• It is transmitted as a part of the specialized, rigorous, and long
learning, in which the individual is expected to internalize the
tradition correctly.
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LITTLE TRADITION
• The tradition of the little community is known as ‘little
tradition’. It may be defined as:
• The tradition of the unlettered (i.e.. non-literate and
illiterate) many people inhabiting a particular area,
• Who are unreflective, i.e. they do not critically examine or
comment upon it, and accept it as it is;
• This tradition is cultivated at home; and Is transmitted from
one generation to the next as part of the process of
socialization.
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• If the little tradition is of villagers and the unlettered
people of cities, the elites and scholars, such as the
Brahmins, Imams, priests, rabbis, etc., guard the great
tradition.
• The tradition of these scholar-elites is universally held.
• At the same time it is to be realized that little and
great are ideal types, while in reality the situation is
complex.
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Key characteristics include
Great Tradition Little Tradition
1.Primarily textual and written 1.Oral and primarily non-
2.Tends to be standardized textual
and homogenous 2.Diverse and heterogeneous
3.Usually associated with 3.Mostly found in rural, less
urban and literate societies literate societies
4.Emphasizes formal 4.Encompasses folk culture,
institutions, religion, local rituals, customs, and
philosophy, and the arts superstitions
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Interplay of Great Tradition and Little
Tradition
• While these traditions appear to exist in parallel, they
continually interact, influence, and shape one another.
• One commonly seen process is “Sanskritization”, where
elements of the Little Tradition are incorporated into the
Great Tradition, leading to a rise in social status.
• Another process is “Parochialization” where elements of
the Great Tradition trickle down and get localized or
“folklorized” in the Little Tradition.
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The Significance in Anthropological
Discourse
Cultural Complexity: These concepts shed light on the cultural
complexity within societies, revealing how different groups interpret and
practice shared cultural elements.
Social Dynamics: They highlight the dynamic and reciprocal relationship
between different socio-economic classes within societies.
Historical Continuity: They provide insight into cultural change and
continuity over time, and how societies absorb, adapt, and reshape both
internal and external influences
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