Indrabhishek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (August 2006) |
Indrabhishek was a ceremony performed by Indian kings and mentioned in the Aiteraya Brahmanas.
Contents |
[edit] History
With the loss of political power to the Turks and collapse of tradition, Indrabhishek was relegated to the background. The Yadavas and Chauhans were the last to perform a coronation but whether they performed Indrabhishek ceremony is not clear. Shivaji revived it. Gagabhat wrote a detailed book on the procedure. Accordingly it was then performed.
A thread ceremony (Upanayanam) of Shivaji took place on May 29, 1674, and then a Vratya Stoma ceremony was performed.
[edit] Subaltern view
Some historians attribute the need for the coronation to resentment by the other Maratha Deccan nobles of Shivaji's success (he being a Bhosale) and his taking a higher seat than them at state dinners.[1] However it is worth mentioning that Shivaji had mentioned his gotra (lineage) as being that of kaushika (Vishwamitra) in his danpatra (donation).[2] Hence this kind of observation made during the late 19th century does not hold any weight.
[edit] Legacy
Whatever might be modern interpretations as per the view of the reformer or subaltern historians, it created a legacy. After the death of Shivaji, Marathas fought against the invading mughals and defeated them in the war of 27 years. This demonstrated that coronation was an instrument of sovereignty as can been seen in other parts of the world.
