@article{oai:minpaku.repo.nii.ac.jp:00004292,
 author = {田中, 雅一 and Tanaka, Masakazu},
 issue = {2},
 journal = {国立民族学博物館研究報告, Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {This article aims to analyse the relationships between a
Brahmin priest and a non-Brahmin medium at a village festival in
culminates in the stone image of her found inside the temple.
From the llth day onwards the priest conducts an elaborate
Anthropologists tend to consider priesthood to be characteristic
of the culture of higher castes, and possession that of lower
castes. As a result they confirm the dualist view of Hinduism,
consisting of the "Great Tradition" and the "Little Tradition."
I contend that what is more important to the understanding of
the relationships between priesthood and mediumship is the
difference in their political functions: rituals presided over by
the priest are close to political power. I argue that the political
function of priesthood is more effective for the legitimation of
power than that of possession. I do not deny the existence of
a political function in rituals where possession is frequent, but
the political function of priesthood seems to guarantee that
political power has a long-term and stable authority.
ritual called snanabhiseka. This is supported by the wealthy
villagers. It aims to create sacred power and transfer it to the
stone images of Partasarati and his consorts and of Draupadi.
On the morning of the 18th day, the priest starts another
elaborate ritual and creates sacred fire. The medium goes into
a trance in front of the stone image and transfers the fire to a
firewalking pit. Logs are piled over the fire. In the evening
the pit is raked flat, and only hot coals are left. The medium
walks over the fire, leading about one thousand male devotees.
Firewalking is the climax of the 19-day-long festival. The next
day the Brahmin priest removes the sacred thread from the
medium's hand, and the festival is over.
I argue that the festival as a whole consists of three kinds of
rituals; 1) rituals conducted by the medium; 2) rituals conducted
by the priest; and 3) rituals conducted by the priest
in which the medium participates. The first type is of ecstatic
nature, although the medium is not always in a state of possession.
It represents the world of devotees. The medium is both guru
and incarnation of Draupadi, leading the devotees towards the
goddess. The world constructed through the ecstatic rituals is
egalitarian and is considered to be "anti-structural." The second
type, on the other hand, is not ecstatic. The Brahmin priest
presides over the rituals, uttering Sanskrit mantras and using hand
gestures. Although not always the case, these rituals are expensive
and are restricted to relatively wealthy villagers, who participate
as patrons. These rituals confirm secular relationships in the
village and legitimate the power of the patrons.
The third type of rituals shows us the hierarchical relationships
between the priest and the medium. For example, the ritual of
tying the sacred thread enables the medium to become possessed.
Without this ritual, he cannot play a central part in the festival.
He depends on the Brahmin priest. Likewise the fire for the
firewalking is created by the Brahmin priest. The medium
cannot walk over the fire without the priest's ritual.
The festival can be seen as a sacrifice. It consists of "the
rite of entry," "immolation," and "the rite of exit." The first
is the ritual of tying the sacred thread, the second firewalking,
the last the ritual of untying the sacred thread. In this case the
medium is considered as the victim offered to Draupadi for the
benefit of the village as a whole.

a Tamil fishing village, Sri Lanka. Anthropological studies on
Hindu religious functionaries tend to contrast the Brahmin priest
with the non-Brahmin medium or shaman. They each deal with
different, but not totally separate, spheres of village religious
life. The Brahmin priest is more concerned with otherworldly
values, the medium with this-worldly values. This article
considers the relationships between priest and medium in a
village festival in terms of their symbolic roles and their political
functions.
The setting is a local village temple dedicated to Partasarati
(Krsna) and to Draupadi, a deified heroine of the Mahabharata.
Both Brahmin priest and non-Brahmin medium participate in
this festival. While the former performs daily worship and more
complicated rituals supported by wealthy villagers, the latter,
being possessed by Draupadi, plays the role of the goddess's
incarnation.
The annual festival starts with purificatory rituals. The
priest ties a sacred thread to the medium's right wrist. Then
he goes to the sea. There he induces Draupadi's power into
a karakam or ritually decorated pot, and becomes possessed by
her. Every other evening during the festival he carries the
karakam pot on his head to the temple. Draupadi's power},
 pages = {393--509},
 title = {司祭と霊媒 : スリランカ・タミル漁村における村落祭祀の分業関係をめぐって},
 volume = {15},
 year = {1990},
 yomi = {タナカ, マサカズ}
}