Anncharlott Eschmann (September 24, 1941, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

– April 6, 1977, in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

) was a scholar of religion. She was born in

, the first daughter of Professor Ernst Wilhelm Eschmann, a renowned Professor of Philosophy, and Mrs. Charlott Eschmann, a retired psychotherapist. She grew up in Roman Catholic

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

(Switzerland), where her parents' house had become a constant meeting place of members of the Eranos Society. Eschmann studied Protestant theology,

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...

and

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. In 1969, she submitted her PhD thesis on the topic of "The idea of history in Aztec religion". As a member of the Orissa Research Projekt, Eschmann went to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in autumn 1970. There, she encountered, for the first time, Vishwanath Baba in Joranda. Eschmann's academic research focussed on "sectarian" movements such as the Samaritans, the oppressed Jewish offspring, and Mahima dharma and the modern reform movement in

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

. She explored the phenomenon which Srinivas labelled as

Sanskritization Sanskritisation (or Sanskritization) is a term in sociology which refers to the process by which castes or tribes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility by emulating the rituals and practices of the dominant castes or upper c ...

, i.e. the continuing incorporation of "prehistoric" and popular beliefs into "high" traditions. Her work on

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

and

Narasimha Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...

exemplified the relation of tribal deities and the Jagannath cult of

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

. From 1975, Eschmann was the head of the

branch of Heidelberg's South Asia Institute. Anncharlott Eschmann died on April 6, 1977, in New Delhi.

Published works

* "Die Funktion der Geschichte im religiösen Weltbild Altmexikos". In Verhandlungen des 38. Internationalen Amerikanistenkongresses, 1968, Band II. Munich 1970: 353-359. * "Typen der Erlösung - Bericht von der religionsgeschichtlichen Studienkonferenz in Jerusalem vom 14. bis 19. Juli 1968". In Kairos, Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft und Theologie, Heft 4, 1968: 286-288. * "Die Samaritaner. 2700 Jahre Glaubensgeschichte zwischen Judentum, Christentum und Islam". In Gehört - Gelesen. Manuskriptauslese der interessantesten Sendungen des Bayrischen Rundfunks, Nr. 1, Januar 1970: 58-65. * "Spread, Organisation and Cult of Mahima Dharma". In An Inter-Disciplinary Seminar on Mahima Dharma and Darshan, edited by D. Panda, Koraput 1972: 7-11. * "Der Avataragedanke im Hinduismus des Neunzehnten und Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts". In Numen: International Review for the History of Religions, vol. 19, 1972: 229-240. * "The Role of Hindu Tradition in Contemporary India: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Temple City of Puri and the Jagannatha Cult". In Bulletin of the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University, 1973: 92-99. * "Religion, Reaction and Change: The Role of Sects in Hinduism". In Religion and Development in Asian Societies, Colombo 1974: 143-157. * "Religion and Religions in Modern Hinduism". In South Asian Digest of Regional Writing, Heidelberg 1975: 2-20. * "Spread, Organisation and Cult of Mahima Dharma". In Satya Mahima Dharma, edited by S.N. Senapati, Cuttack 1975: Dharma Grantha Store: 9-22. * "Das religiöse Geschichtsbild der Azteken", Berlin 1976: Gebrüder Mann. * "Hinduisation of Tribal Gods and Cults: The Shaiva and Shakta Typology". In The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, edited by A. Eschmann, H. Kulke and G.C. Tripathi, Delhi 1978: Manohar: 79-97. * "Hinduisation of Tribal Gods and Cults: The Vaishnava Typlogy". In The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, edited by A. Eschmann, H. Kulke and G.C. Tripathi, Delhi 1978: Manohar. * "Hinduisation of a Ritual: Prototypes of Jagannatha's Navakalevara Ceremony". In The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, edited by A. Eschmann, H. Kulke and G.C. Tripathi, Delhi 1978: Manohar * "Mahima Dharma - an Autochthonous Hindu Reform Movement". In The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, edited by A. Eschmann, H. Kulke and G.C. Tripathi, Delhi 1978: Manohar. * "Baum, Stein und Pfahl: Symbolik der Indischen Volksreligion". In Symbolon. Jahrbuch für Symbolforschung, Bd. 3, Köln, 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eschmann, Anncharlott German scholars Religion academics 1941 births 1977 deaths German expatriates in Switzerland German expatriates in India South Asia Institute Heidelberg faculty