Vernacular Catholicism, Vernacular Saints

Description

Finalist for the 2018 Best Book in Hindu-Christian Studies presented by the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) was one of the most important scholars of popular Indian Christianity and South Asian religion in North America. Vernacular Catholicism, Vernacular Saints gathers together, for the first time in a single volume, a series of his groundbreaking studies on the distinctively "vernacular" Catholic traditions of Tamil Nadu in southeast India. This collection, which focuses on four rural shrines, highlights ritual variety and ritual transgression in Tamil Catholic practice and offers clues to the ritual exchange, religious hybridity, and dialogue occurring at the grassroots level between Tamil Catholics and their Hindu and Muslim neighbors. Raj also advances a new and alternative paradigm for interreligious dialogue that radically differs from models advocated by theologians, clergy, and other religious elite. In addition, essays by other leading scholars of Indian Christianity and South Asian religions—Michael Amaladoss, Purushottama Bilimoria, Corinne G. Dempsey, Eliza F. Kent, and Vasudha Narayanan—are included that amplify and creatively extend Raj's work.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Foreword
Bindu Madhok

Editor’s Introduction
Reid B. Locklin

Hiding Behind the Lens: Fieldwork and Friendship with Selva J. Raj
Amanda Randhawa

1. Being Catholic the Tamil Way
Selva J. Raj

Part I: Vernacular Catholicism in Context

2. The Story of Christianity in Tamil Nadu
Michael Amaladoss, S.J.

3. Two Models of Indigenization in South Asian Catholicism: A Critique
Selva J. Raj

4. The Ganges, the Jordan, and the Mountain: The Three Strands of Santal Popular Catholicism
Selva J. Raj

Part II: Health, Healing, and Fertility

5. Shared Vows, Shared Space, and Shared Deities: Vow Rituals among Tamil Catholics in South India
Selva J. Raj

6. Transgressing Boundaries, Transcending Turner: The Pilgrimage Tradition at the Shrine of St. John de Britto
Selva J. Raj

7. An Ethnographic Encounter with the Wondrous in a South Indian Catholic Shrine
Selva J. Raj

Part III. Status and Humor, Competition and Communion

8. Public Display, Communal Devotion: Procession at a South Indian Catholic Festival
Selva J. Raj

9. Serious Levity at the Shrine of St. Anne in South India
Selva J. Raj

10. Dialogue “On the Ground”: The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India
Selva J. Raj

Part IV. “Being Catholic the Tamil Way”: Responses and Reflections

11. Comparative Transgressions: Vernacular Catholicisms in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
Corinne G. Dempsey

12. Vernacular Christianities: Tamil Catholics and Tamil Protestants
Eliza F. Kent

13. Extending Selva J. Raj’s Scholarship to Hindu American Temples: Accommodation, Assimilation, and a Dialogue of Action
Vasudha Narayanan

14. Reinventing “Classical” Indian Dance with or without Indigenous Spirituality in Three Contemporary “Secular” Continents
Purushottama Bilimoria

Afterword
Wendy Doniger

Postscript: The Tie That Binds
Selva J. Raj

Bibliography
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Comparative religion
• Catholic Church

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 27 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438465067
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

VERNACULAR CATHOLICISM, VERNACULAR SAINTS
VERNACULAR CATHOLICISM, VERNACULAR SAINTS
S ELVA J. R AJ ON “B EING C ATHOLIC THE T AMIL W AY ”
Edited by
REID B. LOCKLIN
Cover: Photo courtesy of Amanda Randhawa, 2003
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Eileen Nizer
Marketing, Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Locklin, Reid B., editor.
Title: Vernacular Catholicism, vernacular saints : Selva J. Raj on “Being Catholic the Tamil way” / edited by Reid B. Locklin.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031429 (print) | LCCN 2016038322 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438465050 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438465067 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Catholics—India—Tamil Nadu. | Catholics—South India. | Catholic Church—India—Tamil Nadu. | Catholic Church—South India. | Tamil Nadu (India)—Religious life and customs. | South India—Religious life and customs. | Christianity and culture—India—Tamil Nadu. | Christianity and culture—South India. | Christianity and other religions—Hinduism. | Raj, Selva J.
Classification: LCC BX1644.2.T36 V45 2017 (print) | LCC BX1644.2.T36 (ebook) | DDC 282/.5482—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031429
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) and Nancy J. Ellegate (1959–2015)
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Bindu Madhok
Editor’s Introduction
Reid B. Locklin
Hiding Behind the Lens: Fieldwork and Friendship with Selva J. Raj
Amanda Randhawa
Chapter 1 Being Catholic the Tamil Way
Selva J. Raj
P ART I V ERNACULAR C ATHOLICISM IN C ONTEXT
Chapter 2 The Story of Christianity in Tamil Nadu
Michael Amaladoss, S.J.
Chapter 3 Two Models of Indigenization in South Asian Catholicism: A Critique
Selva J. Raj
Chapter 4 The Ganges, the Jordan, and the Mountain: The Three Strands of Santal Popular Catholicism
Selva J. Raj
P ART II H EALTH , H EALING , AND F ERTILITY
Chapter 5 Shared Vows, Shared Space, and Shared Deities: Vow Rituals among Tamil Catholics in South India
Selva J. Raj
Chapter 6 Transgressing Boundaries, Transcending Turner: The Pilgrimage Tradition at the Shrine of St. John de Britto
Selva J. Raj
Chapter 7 An Ethnographic Encounter with the Wondrous in a South Indian Catholic Shrine
Selva J. Raj
P ART III S TATUS AND H UMOR , C OMPETITION AND C OMMUNION
Chapter 8 Public Display, Communal Devotion: Procession at a South Indian Catholic Festival
Selva J. Raj
Chapter 9 Serious Levity at the Shrine of St. Anne in South India
Selva J. Raj
Chapter 10 Dialogue “On the Ground”: The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India
Selva J. Raj
P ART IV “B EING C ATHOLIC THE T AMIL W AY ”: R ESPONSES AND R EFLECTIONS
Chapter 11 Comparative Transgressions: Vernacular Catholicisms in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
Corinne G. Dempsey
Chapter 12 Vernacular Christianities: Tamil Catholics and Tamil Protestants
Eliza F. Kent
Chapter 13 Extending Selva J. Raj’s Scholarship to Hindu American Temples: Accommodation, Assimilation, and a Dialogue of Action
Vasudha Narayanan
Chapter 14 Reinventing “Classical” Indian Dance with or without Indigenous Spirituality in Three Contemporary “Secular” Continents
Purushottama Bilimoria
Afterword
Wendy Doniger
Postscript: The Tie That Binds
Selva J. Raj
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
Illustrations Figure 1.1 Selva J. Raj mingles with pilgrims near the shrine of St. John de Britto in Oriyur, Tamil Nadu . Figure 1.2 Raj chats with devotees on the grounds of the de Britto shrine . Figure 1.3 Raj films an ear-piercing ceremony, which often follows the children’s tonsuring at the shrines . Figure 1.4 In many ways, Raj embodied the ritual hybridity he observed in his research subjects. Here, he has his palm read on the grounds of the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu . Figure 5.1 The main de Britto shrine in Oriyur, Tamil Nadu . Figure 5.2 A family poses in front of Our Lady of Good Health, the oldest of three shrines associated with de Britto in Oriyur. It is believed that this shrine stands on the site where St. John de Britto was martyred . Figure 5.3 A family prepares a goat for sacrifice at the de Britto shrine . Figure 5.4 A child is tonsured in one of the barber shops adjacent to the shrine at Oriyur . Figure 5.5 Children at the shrine of St. Anthony of Uvari receive a distinctive tonsure—the “friar look.” Figure 5.6 Devotees line up to pay reverence to the icon of Anthony at the Uvari shrine . Figure 5.7 A religious sister offers flowers at the Anthony Uvari shrine . Figure 5.8 Women frequently offer coconut saplings to the saint for fertility . Figure 9.1 A procession image of St. Anthony at his shrine in Uvari, Tamil Nadu . Figure 9.2 St. Anthony being prepared for a ritual procession outside the shrine . Figure 9.3 Devotees wait on the beach in Uvari for a festival and procession of the image of St. Anthony . Figure 9.4 The image in procession on the beach . Figure 9.5 Devotees often participate in festivals in family and village groups. Here a group of pilgrims display their village banners at the shrine of St. John de Britto in Oriyur . Figure 9.6 Raj records a conversation with a group of pilgrims at the de Britto shrine .
Acknowledgments
This work would not have come to fruition except through the patience and assistance of many colleagues and friends. First and foremost, I offer heartfelt thanks to Bindu Madhok, the estate of Selva J. Raj, and Wendy Doniger for supporting the project when I first proposed it. My gratitude also goes out to Michael Amaladoss, Corinne Dempsey, Eliza Kent, Vasudha Narayanan, and Purushottama Bilimoria for lending their time and expertise to bringing the volume into something approximating the shape Raj intended for it. University of Toronto students Thuwanika Kandasamy and Noreen Ahmed painstakingly transcribed and proofread all of the selected articles to shape the initial manuscript, and Sinead Dunphy proofread the final work several times and created the index. I stand in their debt. Thanks are owed, too, to Amanda Randhawa, who contributed the photographs that appear after chapters 1 , 5 , and 9 —all taken during fieldwork she conducted as Raj’s research assistant in 2003.
Most of the chapters of this volume were originally published elsewhere, and I am grateful for the opportunity to republish them here. The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies granted permission to republish two articles: from vol. 21 (2008), “Being Catholic the Tamil Way” ( ch. 1 ) and from vol. 17 (2004), “Dialogue ‘On the Ground’” ( ch. 10 ). “Two Models of Indigenization in South Asian Catholicism” ( ch. 3 ) was originally published in Vidyajyoti , vol. 69 (2005), and “The Ganges, the Jordan and the Mountain” ( ch. 4 ) in Doxology , vol. 16 (1999). The State University of New York Press granted permission to republish “Shared Vows, Shared Space, and Shared Deities” ( ch. 5 ) from the volume Dealing with Deities (2006), “An Ethnographic Encounter with the Wondrous in a South Indian Catholic Shrine” ( ch. 7 ) from the volume Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions (2008), and “Serious Levity at the Shrine of St. Anne in South India” ( ch. 8 ) from the volume Sacred Play (2010). Permission to reprint “Transgressing Boundaries, Transcending Turner” ( ch. 6 ), originally published in the Journal of Ritual Studies 16.1 (2002): 4−18, has been granted by JRS via its co-editors, Dr. Pamela J. Stewart and Prof. Andrew J. Strathern. Taylor Francis Group granted permission to republish “Public Display, Communal Devotion” ( ch. 8 ) from the volume South Asian Religions on Display (2008); and Brill granted permission to republish “The Tie that Binds” from Method and Theory in the Study of Religion , vol. 21 (2009). Full citations for all of these original publications are available in the bibliography.
Finally, I would like to offer a word of gratitude to the editorial and production staff of the State University of New York Press. Jessica Kirschner deserves special mention for her patience, her guidance, and her assiduous effort bringing the manuscript to press. I also appreciate the useful feedback of two anonymous reviewers. Nancy J. Ellegate, well known to many scholars in religious studies as Senior Acquisitions Editor at SUNY Press, had worked closely with Raj on a number of the volumes in which the essays gathered here first appeared. It was Nancy who received Raj’s first proposal, and she enthusiastically supported the idea of this volume when I first proposed it to her at a meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Tragically she, like Raj himself, passed away unexpectedly before the project could be brought to completion. I was never privileged to know either Selva or Nancy very well; nevertheless, it seems appropriate to dedicate this volume to both of them together, in recognition of their long collaboration and in gratitude for their respective contributions to the field.
Foreword
As I write this, it has been a little over eight years since Selva’s sudden passing in March of 2008. The pain of that tragic occurrence overwhelms me as I collect my thoughts for this foreword which Reid Locklin so kindly invited me to write. Doing