About the Book: Art for Tribal Rituals in South Gujarat, India: A Visual
Anthropological Survey of 1969
Art for Tribal Rituals is the outcome of extensive fieldwork carried out by
Eberhard Fischer and Haku Shah in South Gujarat in 1969. After an initial survey
tour to locate village shrines and sacred pilgrimage sites, as well as
specialists in rituals and crafts, the two art-anthropologists stayed in the
field to observe as silent participants oracle and spirit-healing sessions, a
death ceremony and the worship of local deities by the village communities.
Fischer and Shah documented their experiences in unprecedentedly detailed
photographic sequences, and as well, took precise notation