Hardwar
Spirit, Place, and Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3269626 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vikash Singh (0000-0002-5131-5753, Montclair State University, corresponding author), Sangeeta Parashar (0000-0001-6857-6231, Montclair State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 121 |
| Publication date | 2019-02-18 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel10020121 |
| OpenAlex | W2912112019 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 12 |
This article describes the narratives and projections that shaped the contested character of Hardwar and the river Ganges as symbols par excellence of the Hindus' claim to India's sacred geography over the last two hundred years. It deliberates on the tactics and practices through which Hardwar's ancient and legendary status has been employed to assert Hindu identity and territorial claims vis-à-vis the colonial administrators, but also to exclude the country's Muslim and Christian populace. The purifying, divine land of Hardwar enabled the nationalist imagination and struggle for a Hindu India, even as it was instituted as a site for the internal purification of Hinduism itself, to mirror its glorious past. The article describes the contests and claims, based on religion and class, as well as the performance of socio-economic and existential anxieties that the sacred quality of Hardwar and the river Ganges continues to authorize and enable in post-colonial India. For this, we draw particularly on the Kanwar Mela, an annual event in which millions of mostly poor young men carry water from the river Ganges on foot, and often over long distances. We deliberate on the significance of the sacred water, rituals, and the journey in reinforcing these pilgrims' perceptions of the self, and their moral claims over the nation and its territory
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Colonialism · Excellence · Existentialism · Geography · Hinduism · Narrative · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Religious studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts
Remembering Partition
Constructing Colonial Dharma
The Abuse of Religion and Ecology
Negotiating Secularity
The Master's Narrative
New Spirituality, Politics of Self-empowerment, Citizenship, and Democracy in Contemporary India
Making the Colonial State Work for You
The Hindu Mahasabha and the Indian National Congress, 1915 to 1926
| Highly cited | No |
|---|