Kama Maclean
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195338942
- eISBN:
- 9780199867110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195338942.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Departing from the debates about the nature of communitas vis‐à‐vis Hindu pilgrimage, the study begins by pointing out some of the conceptual shortfalls that have plagued the study of pilgrimage. ...
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Departing from the debates about the nature of communitas vis‐à‐vis Hindu pilgrimage, the study begins by pointing out some of the conceptual shortfalls that have plagued the study of pilgrimage. Aiming to bring a broader concept of power to the study of pilgrimages, the Introduction reflects upon the potential of a pan‐Hindu, mass pilgrimage in engendering the imagination of a “national” community. After briefly describing the Kumbh Mela genre of festivals and Allahabad's annual counterpart, the Magh Mela, the themes of the book are identified, a conceptual framework is delineated, and an overview of each of the chapters is given. The nature of available and accessible historical sources and their attendant assumptions that have underpinned the colonial administration and study of popular piety in India are set out and problematizedLess
Departing from the debates about the nature of communitas vis‐à‐vis Hindu pilgrimage, the study begins by pointing out some of the conceptual shortfalls that have plagued the study of pilgrimage. Aiming to bring a broader concept of power to the study of pilgrimages, the Introduction reflects upon the potential of a pan‐Hindu, mass pilgrimage in engendering the imagination of a “national” community. After briefly describing the Kumbh Mela genre of festivals and Allahabad's annual counterpart, the Magh Mela, the themes of the book are identified, a conceptual framework is delineated, and an overview of each of the chapters is given. The nature of available and accessible historical sources and their attendant assumptions that have underpinned the colonial administration and study of popular piety in India are set out and problematized
Nurit Stadler
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- June 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197501306
- eISBN:
- 9780197501337
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197501306.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Voices of the Ritual analyzes the revival of and manifestation of rituals at female saint shrines in the Holy Land. In the Middle East, a turbulent, often violent place, states tend to have no clear ...
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Voices of the Ritual analyzes the revival of and manifestation of rituals at female saint shrines in the Holy Land. In the Middle East, a turbulent, often violent place, states tend to have no clear physical borders, and lands are constantly in flux. Here, groups with no voice in the political, cultural, media, and legal arenas look for alternative venues to voice their entitlements. Members of religious minorities employ rituals in various sacred places to claim their belonging to and appropriation of territory. What does this female ritualistic revival mean—politically, culturally, and spatially? The author bases her analysis on a long ethnographic study (2003–2017) that analyzes the rise of female sacred shrines, focusing on four dimensions of the ritual: the body in motion, female materiality, place, and the rituals encrypted in the Israel/Palestine landscape. In the practices at these shrines, mostly canonical, the idea of the “body in motion” is central, with rituals imitating birth and the cycle of life using a set of body gestures. These rituals, performed by men and women, are intimate forces that extend between the female saint and the worshippers. Female materiality strengthens intimacy and creates a bridge between the experience and the material. The intimacy between saint and worshipper created with the body and the female material scattered around represent keys to intimate claims to the land, making the land familiar to worshippers. Rituals encrypt female themes into the landscape that has for decades been dominated by masculine-disseminated war and conflict.Less
Voices of the Ritual analyzes the revival of and manifestation of rituals at female saint shrines in the Holy Land. In the Middle East, a turbulent, often violent place, states tend to have no clear physical borders, and lands are constantly in flux. Here, groups with no voice in the political, cultural, media, and legal arenas look for alternative venues to voice their entitlements. Members of religious minorities employ rituals in various sacred places to claim their belonging to and appropriation of territory. What does this female ritualistic revival mean—politically, culturally, and spatially? The author bases her analysis on a long ethnographic study (2003–2017) that analyzes the rise of female sacred shrines, focusing on four dimensions of the ritual: the body in motion, female materiality, place, and the rituals encrypted in the Israel/Palestine landscape. In the practices at these shrines, mostly canonical, the idea of the “body in motion” is central, with rituals imitating birth and the cycle of life using a set of body gestures. These rituals, performed by men and women, are intimate forces that extend between the female saint and the worshippers. Female materiality strengthens intimacy and creates a bridge between the experience and the material. The intimacy between saint and worshipper created with the body and the female material scattered around represent keys to intimate claims to the land, making the land familiar to worshippers. Rituals encrypt female themes into the landscape that has for decades been dominated by masculine-disseminated war and conflict.
Nurit Stadler
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- June 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197501306
- eISBN:
- 9780197501337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197501306.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
In this chapter the author analyzes the ritualistic inner experience in female sacred places. The author shows the centrality of the body and the “ritual of the body in motion.” As mentioned in the ...
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In this chapter the author analyzes the ritualistic inner experience in female sacred places. The author shows the centrality of the body and the “ritual of the body in motion.” As mentioned in the book’s introduction, in the Holy Land, places of veneration and rituals are based on canonical texts or mythologies of particular saints. As such, the assumption was that rituals are a product of texts and their translation into action. However, this chapter shows different dynamics of these rituals. Although the canon and its physical manifestations are robust, it is mostly “the body in motion” that shapes the experience.Less
In this chapter the author analyzes the ritualistic inner experience in female sacred places. The author shows the centrality of the body and the “ritual of the body in motion.” As mentioned in the book’s introduction, in the Holy Land, places of veneration and rituals are based on canonical texts or mythologies of particular saints. As such, the assumption was that rituals are a product of texts and their translation into action. However, this chapter shows different dynamics of these rituals. Although the canon and its physical manifestations are robust, it is mostly “the body in motion” that shapes the experience.
