Following the Paths of Tibetan Buddhism — the Sacred Mountain of Kailas

University of Zagreb\u27s Ethnology Department in cooperation with Mr. Darko Beljak, who led the expedition, organized a study excursion to Tibet in September and October of 1999. Our team consisted of 18 members, among them five ethnology and indology students (Ivana Hrdas, Maja Koščević, Ines Lasić, Olga Orlić, Ana Marija Pandurić) and two of their teachers — Tomo Vinscak, who lead the ethnological research, and Krešimir Krnic. The purpose of their stay in Tibet was to acquaint themselves with Tibetan traditional culture, religion, rituals, customs, and their way of life. This paper aims at giving an outline of the course of the journey and also to interpret the most important practices of pilgrimage

Razmatranja o religiji kod budista u pokrajini Mustang u Nepalu

The research team from the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy\u27s Ethnological Department was in August and September 1993 in Nepal. It was the first field research of that kind in more than three hundred-year-old history of the University of Zagreb conducted on the subcontinent of India. The team has spent a month in Nepalese Mustang District in the Himalayas, which is at the altitude of more than 3,000 meters. The main aim of the research was to explore ethnologically and to document audio-visually the traditional, originally Tibetan, way of life and Buddhist religion of people living in that part of the Himalayas. This paper is a result of both the author\u27s own field research and the available bibliography.Autor u radu donosi rezultate vlastitih terenskih istraživanja koja su provedena u kolovozu i rujnu 1993. u regiji Mustang u Nepalu. U etnološkoj interpretaciji korištena je i dostupna literatura. Na temelju etnoloških pokazatelja, koji se uglavnom iskazuju u obredima i običajima tradicijske kulture naroda tibetskog podrijetla i budističke vjere koji živi na tim prostorima, autor dolazi do zaključka da su se mnogi oblici starih predbudističkih bon vjerovanja sačuvali u ponešto izmijenjenom obliku. Mahavanski je budizam, kojem ti narodi formalno pripadaju, samo tanak površinski sloj ispod kojeg se kriju drevna vjerovanja. Istraživanjem tog skrivenog dubinskog sloja mogu se dokučiti pojave duhovne kulture koje su zajedničke narodima na širem euroazijskom prostoru, koje nas vode u sam osvit ljudske uljudbe. Iako žive kao enklava odvojena od svoje matice, ovi Tibećani i dalje njeguju svoj materinji jezik, kulturu i običaje, što im na neki način osigurava njihovu opstojnost unutar Nepala. Etnološka proučavanja bona izuzetno su važna već zbog toga što se u današnjem bonu skrivaju mnogi predbudistički elementi koji su zajednički mnogim narodima i kulturama u cijeloj Euroaziji te ih možemo koristiti za pokušaj rekonstrukcije kulturne povijesti cijeloga čovječanstva

Tibetan Religion of Bön (Abstract)

Rad je nastao na temelju vlastitih terenskih istraživanja koje je autor poduzeo na području Tibeta i Nepala. Prema najnovijim istraživanjima Ermakova, Kværnea i Samuela te prema mišljenju autora ovog teksta, naziv bön nosi u sebi više značenja. Na prvom mjestu to je izgubljena religija ili drevni bön koji je bio dominantan na širokom prostoru Azije prije pojave buddhizma. Na drugom kronološkom mjestu nalazi se yungdrung bön, koji se sastoji od velikog broja obreda koji bi trebali poboljšati svjetovne prilike, olakšati teškoće ovozemaljskog života i naposljetku voditi sljedbenika prema višim učenjima što na kraju vodi do buddhinstva. Na trećem je mjestu bön sarma, često nazivan i novi bön.The article is based on the field research the author undertook in the regions of Tibet and Nepal. According to the recent findings by Ermakov, Kværne and Samuel, as well as the author’s opinion, the name Bön carries multiple meanings. Primarily it refers to the lost religion or Ancient Bön, which was the dominant religion over a wide region of Azia before the onset of Buddhism. Secondly, there was the Yungdrung Bön, which consisted of a large number of rituals which were supposed to improve the world, ease the burden of everyday life and finally lead the follower to higher learnings which, in the end, result in the enlightenment. On the third place, there is Bön Sarma, frequently referred to as the New Bön

On "Štrige", "Štriguni" and "Krsnici" on Istrian Peninsula

Rad je nastao na temelju istraživanja koje je u razdoblju od 2003. do 2005. godine provela istraživačka skupina sastavljena od studenata etnologije i kulturne antropologije, kojoj se pridružio kolega Zmago Šmitek iz Ljubljane i kolegica Suzana Marjanić iz Zagreba, pod vodstvom Tome Vinšćaka. Studentsku su skupinu sačinjavali Mihaela Babić, Vanja Lovrić, Ivana Galetić, Tibor Komar, Korana Radman i Romana Hansal. Cilj je istraživanja bio zabilježiti vjerovanja o nadnaravnim bićima, kao i tradicijske metode liječenja i skidanja uroka s oboljelih ljudi ili stoke na području unutrašnje Istre. Prilikom istraživanja otkriveno je kako se upravo u našoj najrazvijenijoj županiji, Istri, sačuvalo obilje vjerovanja koja su u drugim hrvatskim regijama potpuno nestala. Otkrivene su i konkretne osobe koje se još uvijek bave šamanskim poslom. U analizi građe pokazat će se šamanski elementi u tehnikama koje se koriste kod liječenja oboljelih ljudi.This paper presents ethnographic material collected during recent field research on Istrian peninsula in the period from 2000 to 2005. Štrige, štriguni and krsnici can be anthropologically analyzed in different ways. They can be observed as parts of traditional medical practice, since štrige and krsnici can heal people and cattle. Stories of štrige and other mythical creatures also form a part of oral traditional literature. And thirdly, štrige, štriguni and krsnici are mythical creatures linked to pre-Christian, pagan times, before Croats accepted Christianity. They are traces of memory of the mythical battle between sunny, celestial, thunder god Perun, and the giant snake from the underworld, coming from the dark part of the year. This battle is continual since the beginning of time, and every time the snake abandons its place and starts its journey upwards, up the hill, Perun strikes it with his stone lightning and sends it back deep into the water, where it belongs. This is the eternal battle between good and evil, Perun and Veles, krsnik and štriga

From Traditional Heritage of Mid-Istria

Prema geološkim osobitostima Istru možemo podijeliti na bijelu, sivu i crvenu. Bijela je Istra dobila naziv po krškom terenu koji obuhvaća područje Ćićarije i Učke. Siva je Istra dobila naziv po sivome pijesku ili flišu koji se nalazi u sredini poluotoka. Crvena je Istra dobila naziv po zemlji crljenici koja pretežno pokriva južni dio poluotoka. Iz etnološkog aspekta središnja ili siva Istra naročito je zanimljiva, jer je zbog prometne izoliranosti sačuvala prirodni okoliš, tradicijsku kulturu i način života. Danas, kada posvuda u svijetu postoji trend očuvanja izvornog krajobraza sa svim tekovinama tradicijske kulture, potrebno je pronaći modele očuvanja kulturnih vrednota u kontekstu suvremene civilizacije, gospodarstva i turizma. Koristeći pozitivne i negativne primjere iz ostalih europskih regija treba znati sačuvati istinske prirodne i kulturne vrednote koje još za sada postoje u središnjoj Istri.Due to its traffic isolation, Central Istria has preserved its environmental features, as well as the traditional culture and way of life until today. Some cultural traits are likely to disappear under the influence of the inevitable development of communications and traffic roads. It is therefore necessary to establish models of protection of environmental and cultural features in the context of contemporary society and ever developing tourist industry. The true natural and cultural values still existing in Istria should be preserved by referring to both positive and negative examples of other European regions. During the past ten years, the author has been concentrating on research into the following places of Central Istria: Draguc, Račice, Sovinjak, Sovinjska brda, Sv. Donat, Vrh, Šćulci, Motovun, Drobezija, Baletićev brijeg and Sirotići. In the course of the research, a special attention has indeed been paid to economic, and following those, further to the environmental, social and political context of creation and development of the architecture. All environmental changes that occur in the process of managing the nature, change the way of life of a community, and parallel with these changes have further effect on the way of habitation, which often demands a visible material transformation as well. Each of these villages and towns has its guards of the past times, observable in the way of constructing of sacral monuments, houses and agricultural buildings

Veli Mrgar or Flower in the Stone

Sjeveroistočno od mjesta Baška na otoku Krku nalazi se jedan od najljepših mrgara na našoj obali — svojim oblikom podsjeća na kameni cvijet. Etnološki je važan kao spomen na nekada vrlo zastupljenu tradiciju uzgoja ovaca i koza na otoku Krku. Na Krku ima još ljudi koji se bave ovčarstvom ali ta grana privređivanja polako izumire. Još 1995. godine skupina studenata etnologije i arhitekture pod vodstvom profesora Borisa Morsana i Tome Vinšćaka boravila je na terenskome istraživanju kako bi arhitektonski i fotografski dokumentirala neke od spomenika te pastirske kulture. Tako su kolegice Barbara Čubranić, Aneta Mudronja i Tamara Pungaršek izradile arhitektonski snimak Velog mrgara kojeg donosimo u ovome radu.One of the nicest examples of mrgar (sheep-trap) of the Croatian coast, whose shape reminds of a stone flower, can be found North-East of the town of Baška on the island of Krk. It is best preserved piece of coastal pastoral architecture, making it ethnologically significant. The mrgar is a sort of a sheep-trap, used by shepherds for collecting and catching sheep after the summer pasture period has ended, and can be found on our islands. Veli mrgar is considered to be the most beautiful of them. Today, it represents a memory of Krk\u27s tradition of sheep and goat-breeding, that used to be very rich. Although there are still people on the island of Krk dealing with sheep-breeding, this branch of traditional economy is slowly on the decline. A group of ethnology and architecture students conducted a field work research under the supervision of professors Boris Morsan and Tomo Vinšćak back in 1995, with aim of producing architectural and photo documentation of some examples of pastoral architecture. The authors of the architectural design presented in this paper are Barbara Čubranić, Aneta Mudronja and Tamara Pungaršek

Traditional ways of sheep breeding in the village Draga Baščanska, island oKrk

Ovaj rad nastao je kao rezultat timskog terenskog istraživanja na otoku Krku, ljeti 1991. godine. Istraživanja su provedena u okviru znanstvenog projekta HAZU, pod naslovom: Prethistorijska i antička naselja na sjevernom Jadranu. Projekt objedinjuje akademik A. Mohorovičić. a znanstveno-istraživački rad vodi dr Aleksandra Faber. U projektu, kao i terenskom istraživanju sudjelovali su dr. Claudia Chang sa Sweet Briar Collegea u Americi i dr. Perry A. Tourtellotte. Težište ovom radu je u analizi tradicijskog načina uzgoja ovaca na području Drage Baščanske. Premda je na Krku turizam vrlo razvijen te predstavlja glavnu granu privređivanja, paralelno uz njega egzistira jedan manje vidljiv način života a laj je uzgoj ovaca.In this writing the author brings out the results of his own field-research work as well as the descriptions of the traditional ways of sheep-breeding found in the available literature concerning the village Draga Bašćanska. Besides tourism, which is one of the most important branches of economy in these parts, there also exists a less conspicuous, very archaic type of sheep-raising, typical for the island of Krk. With the help of the informar, Mr. Mario Hrabarić, who owns the flock of 100 sheep, it was easy to reconstruct and describe the annual cycle of dealing with sheep, which has not been changed for centuries. This type of sheep-breeding was developed due to some climatic and geographical circumstances, characteristic for the island of Krk Therefore. the strict organization and distribution of the life-space represents, for the inhabitants of Draga Bašćanska a certain microcosmos, controlled by strict rules, where everyone has his own place and role