Lamas,Shamas and Ancestors/ Village Religion in Sikkim Balikci,Anna

Chapter One: Introduction
1. Basic concepts and terms
2. Lamas and shamans: a problematic relation?
3. The chapters
Chapter Two: Perspectives on the Past
1. Historical development of Tingchim's political,
' economic and inter-ethnic relations
2. Relation between bon and Buddhism or the creation
of village religion
3. Origins and migrations of the Lhopos
3.1. Notes on the origins of the Namgyal dynasty
3.2. Gye Bumsa and the chief clans of Sikkim
3.3. Origins and migration history of Tingchim's
descent groups
4. Definition of the person in terms of household,
lineage, village, region and social class
Chapter Three: The Hidden Land and its Supernatural
Population
1. Taming of the country and its inhabitants:
Sikkim as a beyul
2. Living in a sacred hidden land
3. The pho lha mo lha\ ancestors and lineage protectors
4. The supernatural beings of the territory
5. Kangchendzonga's pre-Buddhist identities
6. Perceptions of the supernatural and questions of
identity
Chapter Four: Village Religion: Ritual of lUness
1. On the cause of illness
2. Diagnosing the cause of illness
2.1. The sequence of cure and its ultimate ritual:
the 'red' offering
2.2. Levels of ritual co-operation
Chapter Five: The Shamans
1. Who gets initiated as a pawo or a nejum
2. The initiation ritual
3. The influence of Buddhism on the shamans'
ritual practice
4. Interaction with ancestors
5. Looking north: comparative notes with Mongolian
shamanism
Chapter Six: The Land, its Workers, Harvests and Rituals
1. The land and its workers
1.1. Agricultural tenant farmers and labourers of
Nepalese origin
2. The Iridian merchants
3. Harvests
3.1. The agricultural cycle and animal husbandry
3.2. Hunting and gathering
4. The land and its rituals
4.1. Harvest offerings by the pawo in honour of the
pho lha mo lha
4.2. Harvest offerings by the bongthing in honour of
ajo anyo and latsen
4.3. Harvest offerings by the lama in honour of
Kabur Kangtsen
4.4. Protecting the harvest: the Sesung Gomchen
and the controlling of hail
4.5. The Nesol. ritual of the land par excellence
4.6. Other harvest and hunting rituals
4.7. Losung; the farmer's New Year
Chapter Seven: The Land, its Problems and Ritual
Solutions
1. Land and other disputes with non-relatives and
outsiders
1.1. Disputes with Nepalese and other outsiders
1.2. Curses and poisoning accusations: land and
other disputes between non-related Lhopos
2. Polluting and destroying objects of nature within
the village
3. Wrong action performed against the sacred land
beyond the \tillage: the case of Rathong Chu
hydro-electric project
C]:iapter Eight: Life and Ritual Cycles of Household
Members
1. The household
2. Inter-ethnic marriages
3. Rituals of the household and its members
3.1. Birth
3.2. Marriage
3.3. Building a new house and establishing a
corporate household
3.4. Joining the monastery
3.5. Severe illness and death
Chapter Nine: Curing and Protective Rituals of the
Household
1. Ritual solutions to land disputes among relatives
2. Old household feuds
3. Ritual and other solutions to problems related to
women and marriage
4. Ritual solutions to the lingering consciousness of
dead kin members
Chapter Ten: Ritual, the Village and the State .
1. Local administration and the village's unity
2. Buddhism and the village's relations wdth the outside
world in pre-1975 Sikkim
2.1. The joint celebration of bon and Buddhism in
village and state rituals
3. Religion, the village and its changing relations in
post-1975 Sikkim
4. Identity in the 1990s and the rexnval of Buddhism
in the state
Chapter Eleven: Conventional Buddhism and Village
Religion
1. The case of Lopen Dugyal's return to the village
2. The pawo's annual retreat
2.1. Day one and two: finding the 'demon'
2.2. Day three: expelling the 'demon'
3. Lopen Dugyal and the village lamas .
Chapter Twelve: Conclusion: The Apparent Dichotomy
between Bon and Buddhism