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 po...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
WorldCat: | WorldCat |
Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
Published: |
Heidelberg Berlin
CrossAsia-eJournals
2019
Freiburg Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut für Kulturwissenschaftliche Forschung 2019 |
In: |
International quarterly for Asian studies
Year: 2018, Volume: 49, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 123-140 |
Further subjects: | B
Fear
B piercing rituals B Hinduism B Thaipusam Kavadī B Mauritius |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | 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. |
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ISSN: | 2566-6878 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: International quarterly for Asian studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.11588/iqas.2018.3-4.9344 URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-iqas-93447 |