Thaipusam Kavadī - A Festival Helping Hindus in Mauritius Cope with Fear

With Hindus in Mauritius as a case study, this article will show how Thaipusam Kavadī, a festival of piercing and procession of ancient Tamil origin, has become not only a modern expression of religious affiliation in diaspora, but also a way of coping with fear by trying to gain dispensation for possible religious or ethical misconduct in a time and a place where religion has become compartmentalised. To understand this development, the article gives a short introduction to the overall theme of fear, including theoretical considerations as a prism to understand the factors at play. This is followed by an introduction to Hinduism in Mauritius from a general point of view. Then, using a particular case study and participant observations as a point of departure, the article will explore how Thaipusam Kavadī is conducted and what kind of meaning the participants attribute to their participation

Responses to Covid–19: New Paradigms of Exclusion and Inclusion in Indian Society

This article will give a few examples of how the Covid–19 pandemic in India has sharpened pre-existing patterns. Religion was used for the purpose of a political argument during the course of the pandemic, and the resultant creation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ leaves a definite mark. The focus will be twofold: Firstly, I show how the government and the BJP are promoting themselves as the protectors of Hindu India against ‘intruders’ who are identified as the Muslims who live in the country. The popular viewpoint of Muslims being anti-national very quickly fed into the national narrative of Muslims being responsible for India’s first super-spreader events in early 2020. Secondly, I show how this point of view had repercussions on other aspects of social life and the very fabric of India. An interesting consequence of the religious angle is the creation of a new goddess or Shakti representation named Corona Devi (corona goddess), who some Hindus believe will be appeased by their worship. Thus, the article will highlight how, in the light of Covid–19, social, religious and political divides gain centre-stage

Kāmākhya, den menstruerende gudinde: Tantrisme for lægfolk og elite

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Based on an analysis of the cult around the tantric goddess Kāmākhya from Assam, I will discuss her appeal for both laypeople and ascetics. A special feature is that she menstruates and that her blood is held to have thaumaturgical as well as transformative properties. For laypeople the hope is that it will have a positive effect on their lives here and now, and for the ascetics that it will give rise to an internal process with a soteriological goal in mind. Consequently, I shall present a differentiation between a hardcore and a softcore tantrism and, furthermore, their interrelationship. DANSK RESUMÉ: Med udgangspunkt i en analyse af kulten omkring den tantriske gudinde Kāmakhya fra Assam diskuteres hendes brede appeal for både lægfolk og asketer. Det specielle ved gudinden er, at hun menstruerer, og at blodet tillægges både thaumaturgiske og transformative egenskaber. For lægfolk er håbet, at det kan have positiv effekt for deres liv nu og her, for asketer at det vil sætte gang i en individuel proces med et soteriologisk mål for øje. I den forbindelse vil en skelnen imellem en hard core- og en soft core-tantrisme og deres interrelation blive præsenteret

Darśan, dharma og maṇḍalas: Eksempler på, hvordan indiske begreber er gode at tænke med

Denne artikel skal primært ses som en hyldest til Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen og ikke mindst til hans øgede interesse for indiske verdenssyn, ritualkonstruktioner og begreber. De er nemlig gode at tænke med i et komparativt perspektiv. Det gælder også, når blikket falder på gammeltestamentlig religion eller på nutidige former for religiøs repræsentation. Det vil denne artikel argumentere for ved først at præsentere de tre begreber darśan, maṇḍala og dharma kort og derefter give eksempler på, hvordan de kan bringes i anvendelse på ikke-indisk materiale.This article should primarily be seen as a tribute to Hans Jørgen Lundager Jensen – not least to his increased interest in Indian worldviews, ritual-constructions and concepts. They are good to think with in a comparative perspective. This is also the case when focusing on Old Testament religion or on contemporary forms of religious representation, as this article will argue. First, I introduce the three concepts of darśan, maṇḍala, and dharma briefly and then I offer a few examples of how they can be applied to non-Indian material

Hellige træer i hinduismen: Et mødested i mellem religionstyper

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this article, the focus will be on the worship of tress in Hinduism in both a textual historical and a contemporary perspective. A main argument is that the worship of trees is a central part of most forms of Hinduism regardless of time and place, and also that it has contemporary and global appeal in the so-called eco-dharma movement. DANSK RESUME: Denne artikel vil fokusere på tilbedelsen af træer i hinduisme i både et teksthistorisk og et nutidigt perspektiv. Et hovedargument er, at dyrkelsen eller tilbedelsen af træer er en central del af de fleste former for hinduisme uafhængigt af tid og sted, og også at det har nutidig og global appeal i en såkaldt øko-dharma bevægelse. &nbsp

Det forudsigeliges uforudsigelighed

The last decade has seen an increased interest in ethnography and anthropology among researchers of other fields who are studying culture in one way or another. At the same time ethnography and anthropology have realized the necessity of discussing their own theoretical and methological viewpoints. One of the main features in anthropological method is fieldwork. Here you participate, overtly or covertly, in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, or on special occasions, watching what is going on, listening to what is being said, asking questions, and in this way collecting data that can throw light on the issues that you are concerned about.This article discusses fieldwork as a useful strategy in the study of religion with living representatives. It discusses the new possibilities that can be obtained by fieldwork, but also the mistakes that fieldwork can lead to if the researchers do not take into account several uncertain factors - some of which are being pointed out in the article. This means that a researcher engaged in fieldwork must be an engineer having a special methodological and theoretical intake to a specific study but, at the same time, she must take account of bricolage, being a bricoleur herself.By using some of Carlo Ginzberg's viewpoints, this article also discusses the differences and similarities in historical and anthropological method and ends up pleading for a methological pluralism when dealing with “living religion”

Hinduisme med vægt på forholdene i Indien

Hinduisme med vægt på forholdene i Indie

Responses to Covid–19

This article will give a few examples of how the Covid–19 pandemic in India has sharpened pre-existing patterns. Religion was used for the purpose of a political argument during the course of the pandemic, and the resultant creation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ leaves a definite mark. The focus will be twofold: Firstly, I show how the government and the BJP are promoting themselves as the protectors of Hindu India against ‘intruders’ who are identified as the Muslims who live in the country. The popular viewpoint of Muslims being anti-national very quickly fed into the national narrative of Muslims being responsible for India’s first super-spreader events in early 2020. Secondly, I show how this point of view had repercussions on other aspects of social life and the very fabric of India. An interesting consequence of the religious angle is the creation of a new goddess or Shakti representation named Corona Devi (corona goddess), who some Hindus believe will be appeased by their worship. Thus, the article will highlight how, in the light of Covid–19, social, religious and political divides gain centre-stage

Hvordan en lokaltradition bliver til i lyset af kulturmødets tredje-identiteter

The aim of this article, as exemplified by the Srilankan-Tamil Hindus, is to show how religion is changing in a cultural encounter and, in that perspective, how a local Danish-Tamil Hinduism is formed - a local tradition that you will not find anywhere else. This case study illustrates how a third identity comes into being, an identity shaped in the dialectic between the reshaped tradition and the elements of the same tradition that the members consider to be the key elements. It also shows how tradition as well as culture, identity and religion are dynamic phenomena which change along with the new environment and needs of the members