Nine Lives In Search of the Sacred in Modern India

William Dalrymple — 2009

From the Dust Jacket: A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet-then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve to death. A woman leaves her middle-class family in Calcutta, and her job in a jute factory, only to find unexpected love and fulfillment living as a Tantric skull feeder in a remote cremation ground. A prison warden from Kerala becomes, for two months of the year, a temple dancer and is worshipped as an incarnate deity; then, at the end of February each year, he returns to prison. An illiterate goat herd from Rajasthan keeps alive an ancient 4,000-line sacred epic that he, virtually alone, still knows by heart. A devadasi-or temple prostitute-initially resists her own initiation into sex work, yet pushes both her daughters into a trade she now regards as a sacred calling. Nine people, nine lives. Each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. Exquisite and mesmerizing, and told with an almost biblical simplicity, William Dalrymple's first travel book in over a decade explores how traditional forms of religious life in South Asia have been transformed in the vortex of the region's rapid change. A distillation of twenty-five years of exploring India and writing about its religious traditions, Nine Lives is a modern Indian Canterbury Tales.

Reviews

Timeo Williams@timeowilliams

Jun 5, 2024

Here are some notes from this book: All attachments, she began, bring suffering, which is why Jains like her give them up. This principle had led her to leave her family and give away all that she owned. For many years, she had wandered India’s roads, leading a life devoted to ahimsa, or “non-violence” and compassion toward all creatures Stretching along the southwestern tip of the Indian subcontinent, Kerala possesses some of the world’s most fertile soil and luscious vegetation. Often referred to as India’s “spice garden,” the state has been part of the global trade in spices like pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla for millennia. It was these spices that enticed Greek, Roman, Arab, and Jewish traders from the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean. In the medieval period, Kerala was the terminus of a trade network connecting Venice, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of India. Later on, the Portuguese and British empires vied for control of this seemingly blessed tropical coastline. Kerala is also one of most socially oppressive states in India. One interesting dance that occurs here, called theyyum, allows Dalits the opportunity to voice out complaints against the ruling caste. It has a very religious backstory. A link to the dance can be found here: https://youtu.be/5OTUBioTZAE Bauls are the guardians of a body of knowledge that stretches from meditations on breathing techniques to sexuality, mysticism, philosophy, and asceticism. At the root of their creed, though, is a belief that defies conventional religion. God, Bauls believe, does not dwell in bronze or stone idols. Nor will you find him – or her – in the heavens or the afterlife. No, god can only be found in the bodies of the men and women who seek truth in the here and now. Provided you are willing to give up your worldly possessions, take to the road, and follow the path of love, you will find god

garima mamgain@garima

Aug 13, 2022

Amro Gebreel@amro

Sep 15, 2021

Rachel Prudden@stubborncurias

Sep 14, 2021