Sweet Asceticism
An Ethnographic Study of Female Renouncers in the Chaitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3279938 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leena Taneja (0000-0001-7116-1643, Zayed University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 231 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-08 |
| 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/rel13030231 |
| OpenAlex | W4220743659 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
This paper is based on an ethnographic study which aims to examine female asceticism in the Chaitanya Vaishnava sect, a Hindu devotional school found in the region of Vrindavan in Northwest India. Asceticism, meaning to renounce worldly life, is deeply rooted in Hindu practice. Yet, despite its wide acceptance, female asceticism has remained on the margins of Hindu religious experience. Despite the lack of a model of asceticism for women, scripturally and sociologically, female ascetics are a growing religious group in India. This paper seeks to use empirical data collected during two years of fieldwork to examine how asceticism is articulated and performed by women living in Vrindavan. It builds upon recent interventions in key areas of feminist scholarship and asceticism in South Asia by engaging a religious sect which has received little attention by feminist scholars. This engagement, it is believed, can productively enlarge the field of feminist theologizing and South Asian asceticism
Asceticism · Ethnography · Hinduism · Political science · Scholarship · Sect · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Travel Writing and Literature
| Highly cited | No |
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