ABSTRACT

An extensive study of self-sacrificial images in Indian art, this book examines concepts such as head-offering, human sacrifice, blood, suicide, valour, self-immolation, and self-giving in the context of religion and politics to explore why these images were produced and how they became paradigms of heroism.

chapter |22 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|33 pages

The Images of Sacrifice

chapter 2|43 pages

Human Sacrifice from Myth to Reality

The Integration of Tantra

chapter 3|47 pages

Distinguishing Suicide from Self-Sacrifice

chapter 4|37 pages

Symbols of the Body Offering

chapter 5|19 pages

The Gods who Receive Sacrifice

chapter 6|10 pages

The Heroes who Self-Sacrifice

chapter 7|34 pages

The Historic Setting for Self-Immolation

chapter 8|12 pages

Death and Remembrance

chapter 9|13 pages

Motivations for Abandonment of the Body

Political and Military

chapter 10|14 pages

Motivations for Abandonment of the Body

Health and Society

chapter 11|18 pages

Chinnamastā: Divine Reciprocity

chapter |5 pages

Conclusion