Agricultural Festivals and Re-upping Royal Power A Transcultural Analysis of Pole Acrobatics and Re-ordering the Cosmos

Abstract

High places are intrinsically pure and considered sacred. This paper extends earlier research into the ‘wrestler’s pole’ (mallakhamb), excavating through millennia and across cultures and continents to better understand the seemingly forgotten aspects of agricultural rituals involving pole climbing acrobatics. Fleeting and often vague mentions in primary texts, footnotes and etchings in caves make for tantalising morsels along the path of exploring the metaphorical fall from grace that ritual acrobats have experienced. From prehistoric cave paintings, through pole climbing solar rites from across ancient worlds, to more recent ethnographic examples in Central, South and East Asia, the shamanistic ‘ascent to heaven’s end’ is shown to do what it has always done, assemble the crowd to look up and marvel at the heavens above. Thus, the acrobat’s unique ritual performance has been an essential, and in many cases the most important, rite that re-orders chaos to ensure royal power, bumper harvests and prosperity for the people.

Keywords: bamboo pole acrobatics, agricultural festivals, mallakhamb, Caṇḍālas