Contents -- Preface -- Original Preface and Acknowledgments -- A Note on the Text -- List of Illustrations -- PART I: THE SETTING -- Chapter One: Introduction -- 1. Basic concepts and terms -- 2. Lamas and shamans: a problematic relation? -- 3. The chapters -- Chapter Two: Perspectives on the Past -- 1. Historical development of Tingchim's political,economic and inter-ethnic relations -- 2. Relation between bon and Buddhism or the creationof village religion -- 3. Origins and migrations of the Lhopos -- 3.1. Notes on the origins of the Namgyal dynasty -- 3.2. Gye Bumsa and the chief clans of Sikkim -- 3.3. Origins and migration history of Tingchim'sdescent groups -- 4. Defi nition of the person in terms of household,lineage, village, region and social class -- Chapter Three: The Hidden Land and its SupernaturalPopulation -- 1. Taming of the country and its inhabitants:Sikkim as a beyul -- 2. Living in a sacred hidden land -- 3. The pho lha mo lha: ancestors and lineage protectors -- 4. The supernatural beings of the territory -- 5. Kangchendzönga's pre-Buddhist identities -- 6. Perceptions of the supernatural and questions ofidentity -- Chapter Four: Village Religion: Ritual of Illness -- 1. On the cause of illness -- 2. Diagnosing the cause of illness -- 2.1. The sequence of cure and its ultimate ritual:the 'red' offering -- 2.2. Levels of ritual co-operation -- Chapter Five: The Shamans -- 1. Who gets initiated as a pawo or a nejum -- 2. The initiation ritual -- 3. The influence of Buddhism on the shamans'ritual practice -- 4. Interaction with ancestors -- 5. Looking north: comparative notes with Mongolianshamanism -- PART II: THE LAND -- Chapter Six: The Land, its Workers, Harvests and Rituals -- 1. The land and its workers -- 1.1. Agricultural tenant farmers and labourers ofNepalese origin -- 2. The Indian merchants -- 3. Harvests.

3.1. The agricultural cycle and animal husbandry -- 3.2. Hunting and gathering -- 4. The land and its rituals -- 4.1. Harvest offerings by the pawo in honour of thepho lha mo lha -- 4.2. Harvest offerings by the bongthing in honour ofajo anyo and latsen -- 4.3. Harvest offerings by the lama in honour ofKabur Kangtsen -- 4.4. Protecting the harvest: the Sesung Gomchenand the controlling of hail -- 4.5. The Nesol: ritual of the land par excellence -- 4.6. Other harvest and hunting rituals -- 4.7. Losung: the farmer's New Year -- Chapter Seven: The Land, its Problems and RitualSolutions -- 1. Land and other disputes with non-relatives andoutsiders -- 1.1. Disputes with Nepalese and other outsiders -- 1.2. Curses and poisoning accusations: land andother disputes between non-related Lhopos -- 2. Polluting and destroying objects of nature withinthe village -- 3. Wrong action performed against the sacred landbeyond the village: the case of Rathong Chuhydro-electric project -- PART III: THE HOUSEHOLD -- Chapter Eight: Life and Ritual Cycles of Household Members -- 1. The household -- 2. Inter-ethnic marriages -- 3. Rituals of the household and its members -- 3.1. Birth -- 3.2. Marriage -- 3.3. Building a new house and establishing acorporate household -- 3.4. Joining the monastery -- 3.5. Severe illness and death -- Chapter Nine: Curing and Protective Rituals of theHousehold -- 1. Ritual solutions to land disputes among relatives -- 2. Old household feuds -- 3. Ritual and other solutions to problems related towomen and marriage -- 4. Ritual solutions to the lingering consciousness ofdead kin members -- PART IV: THE VILLAGE AND THE STATE -- Chapter Ten: Ritual, the Village and the State -- 1. Local administration and the village's unity -- 2. Buddhism and the village's relations with the outsideworld in pre-1975 Sikkim.

2.1. The joint celebration of bon and Buddhism invillage and state rituals -- 3. Religion, the village and its changing relations inpost-1975 Sikkim -- 4. Identity in the 1990s and the revival of Buddhismin the state -- Chapter Eleven: Conventional Buddhism and VillageReligion -- 1. The case of Lopen Dugyal's return to the village -- 2. The pawo's annual retreat -- 2.1. Day one and two: fi nding the 'demon' -- 2.2. Day three: expelling the 'demon' -- 3. Lopen Dugyal and the village lamas -- Chapter Twelve: Conclusion: The Apparent Dichotomybetween Bon and Buddhism -- Glossary of recurrent terms -- Bibliography -- Names Index -- General Index.