20/05/2024 14:15 - 16:30

HALL: FATESI - CUSMANO

Proponent: Shukla-Bhatt N.

Chair: Pati G.

Speaker: Pati G., Shukla-Bhatt N., Taneja L.

The papers in this panel examine the ways in which consumer economy andglobalization, propelled by the development of advanced technology and media have led to shifts in
meanings and experiences of religious spaces and festivals in South Asia and South Asian diaspora.
The first paper, "Straddling the Sacred and the Secular: Garba Dance of Gujarati Hindu Women"discusses transformation of a worship dance for goddess during her nine-nights festival into a long dancing event with thousands of participants. Based on ethnographic research, the paper highlightsshifts and continuities in the dance. The second paper, "Modern Saints on Ancient Jainism" demonstrates the strategies used by some of the Jain saints to adapt the millennia old Jain tradition in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The pioneer saint of the "skyclad" sect used photography to revive the practice of nakedness while that of the "whiteclad" sect used libraries and publishing press to popularize the Jain scriptures. The third paper, "Losing and Finding Braj: Commodification and Entrepreneurship in the Sacred Land of Krishna," discuss how the processes of commercialization, conservation, urban development, and the new Indian consumer are collectively reshaping the sacred landscape of Braj.