Nine Lives: In Search Of The Sacred In Modern India

In this book Dalrymple provides nine stories, of nine very different people, all following the rituals and traditions of different religions in modern India (2009). The author explains in the introduction that he has ”kept the author in the shadows, so bringing the lives of the people I have met to the fore and placing their stories firmly centre stage,”

As the reader, we are drawn into the complexities of modern India – a country advancing in an economic boom, in dealing with ancient superstitions, cults & sects. This makes for a series of fascinating tales, which actively avoid the usual clichés of mystic India.

As a heathen atheist, I enjoyed much more the stories of the people than the explanations of the various religious followings, essential as they were to understand the personal stories.


The nine stories are as follows – with what may be interpreted as spoilers!:
- In The Nuns Tale, Prasannamati Mataji tells her story as a Jain nun. Jain monks and nuns, of course, sweep the ground before they walk to ensure they don't kill any animals or insects, but there is much more – for example constant travelling in order not to make bonds, and not being permitted to beg for food, but relying on food being given. In a strange twist, Mataji feels guilty for forming an attachment with a companion. Now she still struggles with the loss of her friend and fellow nun, who completed sallekhana the ritual act of starving oneself to death. It is a ritual with strict rules – the progressive removal of certain foods, and periods of fasting which increase to the point where no food or water is taken, and is seen as an enlightening process – the moving on from this body. It is the aim of all Jain munis First you give up your home, then your possessions. Finally you give up your body.

- The Dancer of Kannur tells the story of life of Hari Das, a Theyyam performer in Kerala. For nine months of the year he works as a labourer, digging wells and on weekends as a warder in a prison. For the other three, he becomes a God-incarnate - possessed by the deity - while performing at temples. For this three month period, he is respected and worshipped, for the other months of the year, he is simply and untouchable. In this story Hari Das explains his childhood introduction to performing, following his father, and the possession he goes through, from which he wakes with no knowledge of what has happened.

- In the Daughters of Yellamma, Rani Bai tells of her life as a Devadasi (literally God's Female Servants) – a prostitute, but a prostitute recognised as incarnations of the deity, especially during the festival of the Yellamma, when they receive gifts and are prayed to. This was probably the most predictable of the stories – poor parents, a young girl sold as a virgin for what to her parents was a large sum of money, and then sold to a brothel, where the seduction of money meant eventually that she became a willing participant in the dedication ceremony which gives them their Yellamma status. Now against the law, the process now takes place in a more discrete way.

- Mohan Bhopa tells his story in the Singer of Epics. Living in Rajasthan, he is a traditional bard, singing the Epic of Pabuli, a 600 year old poem, taking five nights of eight hours each. As well as Mohan's story, Dalrymple in this chapter gives a quite in depth history of oral epic storytelling – Europe and India, and the family traditions. More than just a poem, Pabuli takes on a Godlike role, worshipped by the villagers and asked to assist with the well being of animals and lifestock.

- The Red Fairy tells the story of Lal Peri, a Sufi Fakir, following Lal Shahbaz Qalander, and Shah Abdul Latif in Sindh, Pakistan. Her background makes an interesting story, from Bihar in India as a child at the time of the partition, her father died and then her stepfather was killed in the fighting. With an uncle the family crossed the border to East Pakistan (Bangladesh), where again violence began, with West Pakistan and East Pakistan fighting. With the offer of land in the south of (West) Pakistan, the family split and Lal Peri and her brother left and ended up in Multan, in Punjabi Pakistan. Instead of free land, they were given jobs in a factory, where they worked 8 hours for Rs 15. After 10 years, she left to follow her plans to become a wandering Sufi.

As interesting as her story is – the really gripping part in this story for me is described by Dalrymple as ”the complex three-cornered relationship between Hinduism, Sufi Islam and Islamic orthodoxy – in which the determination of the Sufi's to absorb Hindu ideas and practices has always clashed with the wish of the orthodox to root them out as dangerous and deviant impurities”.

- Tashi Passang is a Buddhist monk, and tells his story in The Monk's Tale. Like many other monks, Passang put aside his vows, took up a rifle and fought the Chinese after their invasion of Tibet. In telling his story he explains his early life and becoming a monk , the Chinese invasion, and of being one of those who accompanied the Dalai Lama in this departure from Tibet to Dharamshala, in Himachal Pradesh, India. There he joined the India Army, where he was trained in expectation of fighting the Chinese, only to be sent to Bangladesh to fight. In penance for the killing, Passang has spent years making prayer flags in Dharamshala, and late in life he has returned to his vows as a monk.

- For 700 years, the art of bronze casting Hindu Idols has been passed down in the family of Srikanda Stpathy. The Maker of Idols tells his story. Set around the Tamil New Year, in village in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, Srikanda tells of his Brahmin family line, the method, the technique, but most importantly the requirement to create idols “in exactly the manner laid down by the ancient Hindu religious texts, the Shilpa Shastras, and specifically designed for temple worship.”

- The Lady Twilight tells the story of Munisha Ma Bhairavi, who lives in the cremation grounds. Animal sacrifice, tantric rites, blood rituals, and skulls all play a part of her role as Ma Tara – follower of the goddess Tara.

- As a Baul (bard or minstrel) Kanai in his tale The Song of the Blind Minstrel, tells of losing his sight from smallpox before he was one, and leaving his family to seek training as a bard. The Baul believe that God doesn't reside in temples, or statues or rituals, but in joy, and singing and dancing. In this chapter we also have the story of Debdas, companion to Kanai. This story takes place at the Feast of Makar Sakranti on the banks of the Ajoy River in West Bengal.


Throughout the stories, Dalrymple follows a similar recipe - an introduction to the person or religious following, then an initial meeting with the person, then the background of the religion, then the life story, coming back to the current time- often a festival of religious event.
It shows that there are not simply four religions in India (Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity), but a much more complex mixture, with links and crossovers.

Great writing, in which the author offers no judgement or opinion, just presents the story.

Comfortably 4 stars.