The Changing Faces of Temple Worship

The Young, the Women, and the Rest

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20074827
AutoresCorinne G Dempsey (autor de correspondencia)
Año2005
Páginas105-128
Fecha de publicación2005-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaThe Goddess lives in upstate New York (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialOxford University PressNew York (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/0195187296.003.0006
OpenAlexW2481845219
ISBN9780195187298
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas63

This chapter explores the effects of Aiya’s maverick approach on various types of temple participants: the youth, women, and everyone else. It begins by describing the Rush temple youth’s enthusiasm for full participation within their religious tradition, in contrast to many second-generation South Asians in North America who tend to be lukewarm about the religious practices of their parents. It also explores how women of all ages, typically marginalized within traditional religious settings, less so at diaspora temples, glean a sense of religious purpose and value at the Rush temple through their ability to participate publicly as Śrīvidyā initiates and temple priests. The fact that the Rush temple encourages initiation and priestly performance to all who are interested regardless of caste, gender, or ethnicity does not come without its challenges, however. Aiya’s creation of a community of priests who claim an equal stake in temple ownership, opening access to authority and divinity in ways otherwise unavailable, also leaves the door open for uncertainty and dispute

Ancient history · Caste · Diaspora · Divinity · Enthusiasm · Ethnic group · Political science · Sociology · Temple · Theology · Worship · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies