Making Faces: Self and Image Creation in a Himalayan Village. By Alka Hingorani.

Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2013, ISBN: 978-0-8248-3525-5, pp. x, 147, $45
(cloth).

Making Faces is about the creation of sacred objects relating to the devtas (gods and
goddesses) of Kullu (or Kulu), a Himalayan valley that lies almost due north of Delhi.
The region is popularly known as “Valley of the Gods” because each village has at least
one resident deity. The central deity of the valley is Raghunath, whose temple is owned
by the royal family in the town of Kullu, and all the village devtas are tied together in
their respective relationships with him. Alka Hingorani provides a good overview, as well
as detail, of the process artisans go through in fabricating the various “faces” and other
objects related to the deities. The inclusion of over 120 great color images in the book
help the reader follow the author as she guides the reader through aspects of the ritual
life of Kullu. In doing so, she traces the construction of one of the faces that adorns a
cart on which a particular deity travels when it goes to other villages in the valley for
festivals and other special occasions. Each face is beautifully and painstakingly
designed to adorn a devta’s cart and is said to represent an aspect of the deity’s
personality. It is therefore both a piece of art as well as a sacred object.

The book is also about the social, political, and religious dynamics of the valley and how
they are all intersect in the context of religious art and ritual. Kullu’s devtas play pivotal
roles in the lives of so many of the valley’s rural residents on nearly every level of their
lives, and their specific relationship to a devta at any one moment influences the status
of their relationship with other villagers. During the creation of sacred objects, issues
such as ritual space, sanctity, and social hierarchy can be and are modified and even
inverted, depending upon specific situations. Boundaries otherwise observed can
become diminished so that focus on the goal at hand can be reached. The author’s
description of such events show that she took ample time to listen to and learn from
villagers in order to gain insight into their relationships with their gods and how they
conceptualize reality and interact with each other within various defined spaces.

The text is divided into chapters that look at the devtas’ faces as pieces of art, the
artists’ creative processes, and the artists themselves. Woven into these is historical
background to the traditions and also discussions of the social and religious structures
and lives of the people of Kullu for whom the artists work. There is a good description of
the liminal nature of both the artisan and his art during the time the creative process is
occurring. The author’s somewhat intimate understanding of the artisan facilitates her
ability to reveal how he uses his talents and related status in his community to
transcend social and religious borders, albeit temporarily, when he is functioning as a
artist. As he enters this elevated status, he goes from low caste to creator of the sacred,
and while there is able to put forth subtle challenges to the hierarchy amidst which he
normally lives in a subservient position. The reader is provided with a sense as to how
this occurs as well as how the artist understands and incorporates his changing status
into his own self understanding during his artistic endeavors, knowing all along that
when his task is completed, he will once again return to being his lower status.
The talents displayed by the artist are not confined to the physical material he shapes
but also can be seen in his ability to situate himself as central to the process of the
creation of ritual objects. Both the village shaman (whom the author calls an “oracle”)
and the artisan exist at the lower end of the social strata in Kullu during their everyday
lives, yet both are regularly called upon the be mediums between the villagers and their
devtas. It is through their respective mediumships that both are able to reverse the
social order in ways that force the normally upper caste members of the community to
be subservient to the special powers and expertise these shamans and artists wield.
Such moments do not destroy caste distinction but modify its structural components in
ways that reveal the contextual nature and limitations of the system.

Anyone interested in gaining a sense of the roles that the devtas of Kullu play in the
lives of the people there will enjoy reading this text. In addition to photos of the creation
of a devta face, the are also dozens of beautiful images of the people, the deities, and
their carts. Because I was a resident of the valley for many years and both observed
and participated in many aspects of the ritual life there, I looked forward to reading the
book. However, I did so with a somewhat more critical eye wondering whether the
author had been able to get an accurate sense of the place, the people, and the
traditions surrounding their deities. I was not at all disappointed. Hingorani’s book is
both informative and entertaining and well worth the read.

Ramdas Lamb
University of Hawai'i
Department of Religion
Honolulu, HI 96822
USA
ramdas@hawaii.edu