Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions

Selva J. Raj

Description

Claims of the miraculous are foundational to faith and skepticism, making and breaking religious careers and movements in their wake. Drawing on a variety of South Asian religious traditions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity—this book revolves around the theme of conundrum, demonstrating how miracles offer divine proof, tenacious embarrassment, and, in many cases, both. The contributors explore not only how modern miracles are conundrums themselves but also how they make conundrums out of assumed divides between scientific and supernatural realms, modernity and tradition, the West and the rest, and ethnographer and native.

"This topic and the various ancillary questions raised by the contributors lie at the heart of understanding religiosity. This is an excellent, even courageous, compilation, and the sheer magnitude of so many different types of miraculous stories presented within a sensitive and astute framework makes this an outstanding contribution to the study of religion." — Constantina Rhodes Bailly, author of Shaiva Devotional Songs of Kashmir: A Translation and Study of Utpaladeva's Shivastotravali

Contributors include Chad M. Bauman, Corinne G. Dempsey, Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, Ann Grodzins Gold, Sunil Goonasekera, William P. Harman, Selva J. Raj, Robin Rinehart, and Neelima Shukla-Bhatt.

Corinne G. Dempsey is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and the author of Kerala Christian Sainthood: Collisions of Culture and Worldview in South India and The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York: Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple and coeditor (with Selva J. Raj) of Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines, also published by SUNY Press. Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) was Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Professor of Religious Studies at Albion College and coeditor (with William P. Harman) of Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, also published by SUNY Press.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Divine Proof or Tenacious Embarrassment? The Wonders of the Modern Miraculous
Corinne G. Dempsey

Part I. Miracles and Modern Ambivalence

2. The Neo-Vedanta Miracle
Robin Rinehart

3. Allopathic ‘Miracles’ and Medical Itineration among Satnamis and Christians in Late Colonial Chhattisgarh
Chad M. Bauman

4. Kataragama and the Tsunami: The Adbhuta, Ascarya and Pratiharya
Sunil Goonasekera

Part II. Making and Breaking Shrine Reputations

5. Showing Miracles in Rajasthan: Proof and Grace
Ann Grodzins Gold

6. A Miracle (or Two) in Tiruchi
William P. Harman

7. The Science of the Miraculous at an Upstate New York Hindu Temple
Corinne G. Dempsey

Part III. Managing the Establishment: Miracles and Popular Expression

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

9. The ‘Deep Secret’ of Karamat: Miraculous Acts, Revelation and Secrecy in a South Indian Sufi Tradition
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger

10. Media of Miracles, Miracles of Media: Clairvoyants and Commercials on South Asian TV Networks in the Diaspora
Neelima Shukla-Bhatt

Contributors
Index

Sujets

• East Asian religions
• Comparative religion

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 23 octobre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791477397
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

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Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions

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Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions

Edited by C ORINNE G. D EMPSEY AND S ELVA J. R AJ

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2008 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 by Eileen Meehan Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Miracle as modern conundrum in South Asian religious traditions / edited by Corinne G. Dempsey and Selva J. Raj. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 9780791476338 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. South Asia—Religion. 2. Miracles. I. Dempsey, Corinne G. II. Raj, Selva J.

BL1055.M57 2009 202'.117—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2008000123

We dedicate this volume in vivid memory of Selva Raj (1952–2008) and to his lasting inspiration on us all

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Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Divine Proof or Tenacious Embarrassment? The Wonders of the Modern Miraculous Corinne G. Dempsey

Part I. Miracles and Modern Ambivalence

The Neo-Vedanta Miracle Robin Rinehart

Miraculous Health and Medical Itineration among Satnamis and Christians in Late Colonial Chhattisgarh Chad M. Bauman

Kataragama and the Tsunami: TheAdbhuta, Ascarya, and thePratiharya Sunil Goonasekera

Part II. Making and Breaking Shrine Reputations

Showing Miracles in Rajasthan: Proof and Grace Ann Grodzins Gold

A Miracle (or Two) in Tiruchirapalli William P. Harman

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105

NINE

Index

Contributors

EIGHT

CONTENTS

SEVEN

viii

211

167

119

187

215

141

The Science of the Miraculous at an Upstate New York Temple Corinne G. Dempsey

TEN

Part III. Managing the Establishment: Miracles and Popular Expression

The ‘Deep Secret’ and Dangers ofKaramat: Miraculous Acts, Revelation, and Secrecy in a South Indian Sufi Tradition Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger

Media of Miracles, Miracle of Media: Clairvoyants and Commercials on South Asian Television in the Diaspora Neelima Shukla-Bhatt

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