Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi (28 February 1931 – 1 December 1985) was an Indian anthropologist known for his work on the anthropology of religion and for pioneering studies on the sacred complex in Indian society.

Life

Vidyarthi obtained a master’s degree in anthropology from Lucknow University, where he studied under D. N. Majumdar. In 1958, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago under the supervision of Robert Redfield and McKim Marriott. His doctoral dissertation was titled The Sacred Complex of a Traditional City of Northern India. He began his academic career as a professor at Ranchi College (then affiliated with Bihar University), serving there from 1953 to 1956. He later joined Ranchi University as a professor of anthropology, teaching from 1958 to 1968, and became the head of the anthropology department in 1968, a position he held until his death in 1985. Vidyarthi passed away on 1 December 1985.

Works

Vidyarthi argued that social scientists in India should study scriptures such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Smritis, the Puranas, and the Great Epics to gain a deeper understanding of India's social realities. He emphasized the importance of appreciating traditional religion and cautioned against being influenced solely by Western scholars who view religion as having a negative impact on development. Vidyarthi asserted that social scientists should not overlook Indian social thinkers such as Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who emphasized concepts like spiritual humanism, universal love, and non-violence. He remarked on the tribal people: It is for the Indian Anthropologists to take them seriously and not to be carried away by the voluminous writings of the Western Scholars who termed them to be 'animist', 'savages' and 'very different form the Hindus'. In 1951, Vidyarthi learned about the Maler tribe, which he considered one of the few primitive tribes of significant anthropological interest in India. Upon discovering their isolated and primitive lifestyle, he decided to focus his scientific investigation on the Maler tribe. Vidyarthi analyzed how the ecological foundation of forests and slash-and-burn cultivation influenced the socio-economic life of the Maler tribe, examining human relationships within this context. He identified four types of Maler spirits—Gossaiyan (benevolent spirits), Jiwe Urrkya (ancestors), Alchi (evil spirits), and Chergani (spiritual power associated with witchcraft)—within a framework of sacred geography, sacred performances, and sacred specialists. Vidyarthi proposed the concept of the Nature-Man-Spirit Complex, emphasizing the interaction between nature, humans, and spirits as a fundamental aspect of the Maler tribe's worldview. Another concept introduced by Vidyarthi in anthropology is the Sacred Complex. His work, The Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya, is regarded as a major contribution to the field. Gaya, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage city, is described by Vidyarthi in terms of "sacred geography," "sacred performances," and "sacred specialists." These three elements constitute the "Sacred Complex," which reflects the "great tradition" of Hinduism and serves to unify the diverse populations of India. Vidyarthi's study of Hindu Gaya demonstrated that the sacred complex helps establish and maintain continuity and compromise between the various traditions within Hindu civilization.

Books