Accepted Panels

In the Bhil community of Udaipur, memorialising the ancestors in stone sculptures and their worship as powerful deities is integral to daily life. These sculptures are deeply symbolic, imbued with cultural and religious meaning that reflects the beliefs and values of the Bhil community. This symbolic interaction is reflected in their expression of grief, mourning and the nature of funerary practices. The Sompura community creates sculptures from naturally occurring rocks that physically represent the deceased, enabling their memory to be preserved and their spirit invoked through various rituals and offerings. The present study focuses on the craft of representing the dead in sculptural forms. Using a combination of participant observation, interviews, and secondary analysis, the study aims to understand the intricate craft of selecting the ancestor image, producing ancestral sculptures, and selling idioms used by sculptors from the Sompura community. The study highlights the central role of visual exemplars in ancestor worship that provides a physical connection to the deceased and their memory. The ancestral sculptures shed light on the social-cultural, historical and economic factors that ensure that the memory of the deceased is not forgotten but preserved for future generations.