Rock and Stone : The Presence of the Divine in Nepal and India

The final chapter is dedicated to stone in modern art. The Surrealists of the 1920s were ‘stricken with sculptural fever’ when confronted with ‘living stones’. André Breton explained his fascination in an essay titled ‘The Language of Stone’.

Rock and stone, like water, plants, and trees, are part of what surrounds us in nature. All elements possess the potential to embody the divine. As such, they are what turns nature into a sacred landscape: rocks and mountain ranges are perceived as religious symbols that grace and protect the habitat. Rock and stone seem to contain ‘the call of a cosmic force struggling to break free.’ The cult of stone can be traced back to the megalithic structures of the Neolithic Age and the worship of meteorites in the Ancient Orient as ‘ensouled’ stones. These are presented in the book’s introduction. The main chapter documents stone worship practised in the context of the urban culture of the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley. There, thousands of unworked stones without any distinctive iconographic features represent the Supernaturals – whether deities named at some point in the past in accordance with the Hindu tradition or spirits or unnamed ancestor deities. These stones absorb impurities, act as guardians, and often demand blood sacrifices. Placed in open shrines, they represent the idea or essence of place, the genius loci, and the limen between the netherworld and the world of human beings. Individuals, families, and lineages maintain a predefined, stable relationship with these landmarks in rites of passage or during annual urban rituals.