Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore
In the context of escalating religious tensions in India, sites that still openly welcome practitioners of different belief systems or encourage a propensity for interreligious ritual engagement face a range of complex challenges. At the Holy Infant Jesus Church in Bangalore, there is a shrine set a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UTS ePRESS
2022-11-01
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| Series: | PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://10.44.10.17:8080/index.php/portal/article/view/7877 |
| _version_ | 1811317984786907136 |
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| author | Devleena Ghosh |
| author_facet | Devleena Ghosh |
| author_sort | Devleena Ghosh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the context of escalating religious tensions in India, sites that still openly welcome practitioners of different belief systems or encourage a propensity for interreligious ritual engagement face a range of complex challenges. At the Holy Infant Jesus Church in Bangalore, there is a shrine set aside for people of non-Christian religions, both Hindu and Muslim, who view this deity as a jagrata or ‘awake’ god who responds to the ‘desire’ of the supplicant, granting boons and wishes. Despite the contemporary hardening of boundaries and the quest for religious purity, this site exhibits the persisting appeal of ritual engagement across religious boundaries. The consequence of such engagement is not always open connections or dialogue but rather concealment of syncretic practices from others in the supplicants’ communities. Against this background, this presentation explores the following questions: Is religion a site of interaction rather than of intra-communal withdrawal? Is religious synthesis an endangered mode of cosmopolitanism now threatened by multiple quests for religious purity? Why are some syncretic practices more resilient than others and how do people engaged in such practices make sense of what remains and what is lost?
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:17:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1b2bcaeb7dd2498cadacee823928fc31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1449-2490 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:17:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | UTS ePRESS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1b2bcaeb7dd2498cadacee823928fc312022-12-22T02:47:17ZengUTS ePRESSPORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies1449-24902022-11-01181-2Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, BangaloreDevleena Ghosh0School of Communication, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology SydneyIn the context of escalating religious tensions in India, sites that still openly welcome practitioners of different belief systems or encourage a propensity for interreligious ritual engagement face a range of complex challenges. At the Holy Infant Jesus Church in Bangalore, there is a shrine set aside for people of non-Christian religions, both Hindu and Muslim, who view this deity as a jagrata or ‘awake’ god who responds to the ‘desire’ of the supplicant, granting boons and wishes. Despite the contemporary hardening of boundaries and the quest for religious purity, this site exhibits the persisting appeal of ritual engagement across religious boundaries. The consequence of such engagement is not always open connections or dialogue but rather concealment of syncretic practices from others in the supplicants’ communities. Against this background, this presentation explores the following questions: Is religion a site of interaction rather than of intra-communal withdrawal? Is religious synthesis an endangered mode of cosmopolitanism now threatened by multiple quests for religious purity? Why are some syncretic practices more resilient than others and how do people engaged in such practices make sense of what remains and what is lost? http://10.44.10.17:8080/index.php/portal/article/view/7877religious syncretismIndian ChristianityHinduismIslamjagrata |
| spellingShingle | Devleena Ghosh Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies religious syncretism Indian Christianity Hinduism Islam jagrata |
| title | Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore |
| title_full | Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore |
| title_fullStr | Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore |
| title_full_unstemmed | Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore |
| title_short | Silence, Exile and Cunning: Concealment and Worship at the Holy Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore |
| title_sort | silence exile and cunning concealment and worship at the holy infant jesus church bangalore |
| topic | religious syncretism Indian Christianity Hinduism Islam jagrata |
| url | http://10.44.10.17:8080/index.php/portal/article/view/7877 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT devleenaghosh silenceexileandcunningconcealmentandworshipattheholyinfantjesuschurchbangalore |