The Fate of Rural Hell
Asceticism and Desire in Buddhist Thailand, New Edition
Will be published approx. on 5. January 2027
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-80309-701-5 (ISBN)
Description
A new edition of Benedict Anderson's masterpiece of political and social interpretation, which asks what a rural Thai "hell temple" reveals about Buddhism and modern life.
In 1975, political scientist Benedict Anderson encountered Wat Phai Rong Wua, a vast temple complex conceived by the monk Luang Phor Khom. Built as a cautionary museum, it uses striking tableaux, hell scenes, didactic statues, and eclectic displays, to imagine karmic consequence and to draw steady flows of Thai visitors.
Returning to the temple over several decades, Anderson treats the site as a travelogue, an ethnographic puzzle, and a social commentary. He asks what kinds of piety, hierarchy, and desire are staged there, and what local community sustains it. The temple also becomes his lens on how capitalism and rural change reshape religious practice in Thailand.
In 1975, political scientist Benedict Anderson encountered Wat Phai Rong Wua, a vast temple complex conceived by the monk Luang Phor Khom. Built as a cautionary museum, it uses striking tableaux, hell scenes, didactic statues, and eclectic displays, to imagine karmic consequence and to draw steady flows of Thai visitors.
Returning to the temple over several decades, Anderson treats the site as a travelogue, an ethnographic puzzle, and a social commentary. He asks what kinds of piety, hierarchy, and desire are staged there, and what local community sustains it. The temple also becomes his lens on how capitalism and rural change reshape religious practice in Thailand.
More details
Series
Edition
Second Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Greenford
United Kingdom
Illustrations
24 color plates
Dimensions
Height: 178 mm
Width: 108 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80309-701-5 (9781803097015)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Benedict Anderson (1936-2015) was a political scientist and scholar of nationalism, best known for his book Imagined Communities. He taught in the Cornell University's Department of Government from 1967 to 2002 and wrote widely on Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Thailand.
Content
Acknowledgements
Strange Ghosts
Luang Phor Khom and His Times
Undercurrents
Temple Boy? Temple Slave?
The Future
Epilogue
Strange Ghosts
Luang Phor Khom and His Times
Undercurrents
Temple Boy? Temple Slave?
The Future
Epilogue