How have the premodern Shaiva ascetic sect of the Nth Yogs (known also as the Yogs with splitted ears) succeeded in maintaining its presence and importance until today? This book intends to give a general survey of this sampradya which is said to have been founded by the Siddha Gorakhnth, known for his strong link to Haha Yoga. However, rather than to Yoga, the history and expansion of the Nth sect are linked to its rich legendary corpus. Dealing first with the marks of belonging (such as the huge earrings worn by the fully initiated Yogs) which give the sect its unity, the book then focuses on its organization and explores the dialectics between the wandering Yogs and the monastic settlements.
The Nth monasteries belong to two categories: the pańcyati mahs, collectively owned and managed by the sectarian authorities, which ensure the permanency of the sect, and the nj mahs, owned on a personal basis and transmitted from guru to disciple, which permits innovative initiatives
The book gives a detailed account of two pańcyati monasteries, the Kadri Mah of Mangalore where its heads enthronement is spectacularly performed every twelve years, and the Caughera Mah of Dang Valley in Nepal, the royal foundation of which gives a glimpse of the complex relationships that can exist between monasteries and kingdoms. It then focuses on three nj mahs: Amritashram in Fatehpur (Rajasthan), Ashtal Bohar in Rohtak (Haryana) and the Gorakhpur mandir (UP). Each of them shows a different mode of adaptation to a modern context and attests of the present importance and continuity of this pluri-secular tradition of asceticism.
Introduction,
PART I: NTH YOGS IDENTITY
Nine Nths and Eightyfours Siddhas, Gorakhnth, Gorakhnths Textual Corpus,
Haha Yoga, Legends and Powers, Deities, Gorakhnth as God, The Goddess,
Bhairav,
2. Belonging to the Sampradya, Initiations, Last Rites, Sect
Organization, The Panths, The Mahsabh,
3. Wandering Ascetics
PART II: COLLECTIVE MONASTERIES
The Kadri Mah: History, Mangalore- the Town and its Temples, A Reading of
the Legend of Paraurm: Manjunths Appearance, The Kadal Mańjuntha
Mhtmya, Mańjunth Temple and its History, The Tenth Century statues:
Buddhist or Shaivite?, Lokevara: A Transitional God, Kadri or Kadal Van:
The Plantain Forest- the Goddess Mangaldev and the Nth Anchorage,
Historical Hypothesis, The Kadri Monastery in Modern Times, The Monastic
Structure,
5. Kadri Rjs Enthronement, Sihastha Kumbh Mel:
Tryambakeshvar, The Selection of the Rj, The Cult of the Ptradevat: The
Making of a Community, The Ascetic Pilgrimage, The enthronement of the Kadri
Rj, The Arrival of the Jhu, The Vittal Monastery, The Consecration or
Paabhiek, Adhikr- Entitlement: Enthronement and Coronation, Parting with
the Ptradevat, Comparison with other Consecration Rituals, Comparison with
other Nth Monasteries, Other Monastic Investitures, Installation Ceremonies
of the Kings Another Model: The Consecration of a Spiritual Master, Back in
Kadri: An Original Synthesis,
6. Caughera Mah (Dang Valley, Nepal): Legends
of Foundation, Yogs and Kings, Caughera Monastery: The Place, The Legends of
Ratannth, Ratans Initiation: Local Roots, Nth Legitimation: Ratannth as
Kanp, Ratannth, Ratan Bb, Hajji Ratan, Ratannths Travels as Narrated
in Caughera, Ratan and Gog Pr: A Samdhi in Gogamedhi, Hajji Ratan of
Bhatinda, Ratan al-Hind: Muslim Polemical Accounts, Back to Caughera: Hindu
and Muslims,
7. The Yogs in the Kingdom: Ritual Services and Wordly
Possessions, Caughera Rituals, The Nitya Pj: Daily Ritual, Prsthpan,
Caughera Monastic Properties, Caughera Status vis-ą-vis its Dependants, The
Monastery and the State: Control and Conflicts
PART III: PERSONAL MONASTERIES
8. Fatehpur Ashram, Hagiography: Amritnth and the Monastic Foundation,
Amritnths Youth, His Life as an Ascetic, Analysis: A Hagiography in a
Familiar Space,
9. Institutionalization of the
Fatehpur Ashrams Nth Belonging, Amritnths Affiliation, Amritnths
Succession, Transmission and Growth of the Mannth Panth, The Throne and the
Tomb, Dhn and Guph (the Fire-place and the Cave),
10. Lay Followers,
Patronage and Sev: Fatehpur and Gorakhpu, Fatehpur, the Marwari Network,
Devotees Duties, Devotees Expectations and Gurus Powers, Festivals,
Gorakhpur, a Political Monastery,
11. Asthal Bohar: A New Synthesis,
Foundation Legends, Cauragnth, Mastnth, Mastnth and the Panth,
Mastnth and the two Brothers who became his Disciples, The Fire of the
Ascetics: The Cho Dhn, The Ba Gadd : The Big Throne, Mahants and
Kings, The New Mahants: Social Service and Politics, The Annual Festivals
PART IV: YOGS BY CASTE
12.The Grihastha or Householder Yogis, Celibacy and the Nth Sampradya,
Ambiguous Categories, Grihastha Yogs and Nth Sampradya, Dang Caughera,
Mangalore, Pushkar, Gwalior: holibuva Tradition, Gorkha, Rajasthan, Dasnm
Pj, Upde, Grihasthas and Tantrisme, Observations
13. Conclusion
Véronique Bouillier is a social anthropologist at the CNRS (Paris). Looking first at the social organization and history of Shaivite ascetic castes in Nepal, she turned to the study of monastic structures, as implemented by the Nth Yog sect in Nepal and in India, and devoted two books as well as several articles both in French and English to the interface between asceticism and society.
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