The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Shiwalik Hills
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sign of this identity, many of these sites
are claimed to be Shakti Pithas—places
where a part of the dismembered goddess
Sati fell to earth and took form as a
different goddess. Shiwalik goddesses
are also thought of as relatives. Kathleen
Erndl mentions seven goddesses, known
as the Seven Sisters: Vaishno Devi,
Jwalamukhi, Vajreshvari Devi, Chintapurni,
Naina Devi, Chamunda, and
Mansa Devi. Modern Hindi language
sources list nine—the seven just mentioned
plus Shakumbhari Devi and
Kalika Devi. This group of nine is scattered
in three different Indian states
along the Shiwalik Range: Seven are in
Himachal Pradesh, Vaishno Devi is in
Jammu and Kashmir, and Shakumbhari
Devi is in Uttar Pradesh. The pantheon
here is fairly flexible, and the goddesses
mentioned in these lists will probably
vary over time, partly reflecting the success
or failure to establish the holiness
of these sites. For further information on
the Shiwalik goddesses and worship of
the Mother Goddess in northwestern
India, see Kathleen Erndl, Victory To The
Mother, 1993. See also pitha.
Shiwalik Hills
Himalayan foothills running through
the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and
Kashmir. The hills are an ecological
transition zone between the plains
and the mountains but have their own
religious ecology as well. Whereas the
sites high in the Himalayas are often
associated with Shiva, the primary
sacred sites (tirthas) in the Shiwaliks are
associated with the Goddess. See also
Shiwalik goddesses.
Shraddha
(“faithful”) Ancestral memorial rite, performed
either for one specific person
(ekoddishta), or for a group in which the
primary beneficiaries were one’s three
paternal ancestors (parvana).
An ekoddishta shraddha is usually
first performed on the eleventh day after
a person’s death, although it may be
repeated on the anniversary of the
death. It is also usually performed every
year during the Pitrpaksha, a two-week
period specifically devoted to such rites,
on the lunar day during this period that
corresponds to the lunar day of death.
A parvana shraddha can be performed
on a number of different occasions,
for a number of different reasons.
In the dharma literature and its
commentaries, shraddhas are classified
as falling in all three categories of
ritual action: nitya, naimittika, and
kamya. Certain shraddhas are obligatory
(nitya) because they are prescribed
for certain particular times,
such as during the Pitrpaksha. Other
shraddhas are occasional (naimittika)
because they are necessary only under
certain conditions, such as the obligation
to give a tirtha shraddha when
one visits a pilgrimage place (tirtha).
Finally, certain shraddhas are freely
performed because of the desire (kama)
for certain benefits from them—usually
conceived as the well-being of one’s
ancestors—and these are desiderative
(kamya) shraddhas.
Whatever the motive for giving the
shraddha, the general procedure always
has two particular features: symbolically
feeding one’s ancestor(s) by offering
balls of cooked grain (pindas), and feeding
real food to a group of brahmins (the
group with the highest social status in
Hinduism) representing one’s ancestors.
Each of these parts is given a great deal
of ritual elaboration, and there is considerable
disagreement about which
should come first, but in modern times
offering the pindas generally precedes
the meal. Many texts exalt the spiritual
merits generated from feeding brahmins,
but this is hardly surprising, since
most of these texts were written by brahmins,
and for many brahmins living at
pilgrimage places these shraddhas were
(and remain) an important part of their
livelihood. However, many people deem
this livelihood parasitic, and it is also
potentially inauspicious, since it is
gained through rites performed for the