William S. Sax Executive Director, South Asia Institute, and Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Heidelberg

• 1: Introduction: Fieldwork Among the Harijans


• 2: God of Justice


• 3: Landscape, Memory, and Ritual


• 4: Oracles, Gurus, and Distributed Agency


• 5: Rituals of Family Unity


• 6: Families and their ghosts


• 7: Sending the God Back


• 8: Postscript: Ritual healing and modernity

God of Justice deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India, focusing on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity associated with the lowest castes, who are frequently victims of social injustice. When they are exploited or abused they often turn to Bhairav for justice, beseeching him to afflict their oppressors with disease and misfortune. In order to bring their suffering to an end, the oppressors must make amends with their victims and worship Bhairav together with them. Much of the book focuses on the tension between the high moral value placed on family unity on the one hand, and the inevitable conflicts within it on the other. This highly readable book describes the author's own experiences in the field as well as ritual healing practices such as divination, sacrifice, and exorcism.