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Śrāddha

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Hinduism and Tribal Religions

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

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Definition

Śrāddha is a general term for various kinds of domestic ancestral rites.

Sources

Ancestral rites were already present in Vedic religion. We have solid and relatively rich textual evidence demonstrating that they formed an important part of ritual activity in ancient India. Śrāddha developed from these complex Vedic rituals [20, 22, 23] and soon became one of the most important domestic Hindu rituals. Today it is regularly performed on many occasions throughout the Hindu world. Śrāddha’s great importance among Hindu rituals is reflected in the vast amount of Sanskrit literature dealing with various kinds of śrāddha, starting with Gṛhyasūtras (which document śrāddha’s formative period); followed by Dharmaśāstras, the Mahābhārata, and Purāṇas (particularly the Garuḍapurāṇa [6]); and culminating in voluminous medieval dharmaśāstric compendia on which modern practical manuals are based. Śrāddhais such a complex subject that to write a reliable introduction to it would require...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Lubomír Ondračka

Authors
  1. Lubomír Ondračka
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Correspondence to Lubomír Ondračka .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religion and Asian Studies, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA, USA

    Jeffery D. Long

  2. The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Rita D. Sherma

  3. Department of Humanities & Languages, Philosophy & Religious Studies, The India Centre, FLAME University, Pune, India

    Pankaj Jain

  4. Centre for the Study of Comparative Religions and Civilizations, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Madhu Khanna

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Ondračka, L. (2022). Śrāddha. In: Long, J.D., Sherma, R.D., Jain, P., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_458

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