You Can Do Anything With a Temple

Religion, philanthropy, and politics in South London and Sri Lanka

Bibliographic Data

ID3607956
AuthorsSidharthan Maunaguru (0000-0002-5265-6808, National University of Singapore), Jonathan Spencer (0000-0001-6660-6919, University of Edinburgh)
Year2018
Volume52
Issue1
Pages186-213
Publication date2018-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x17000385
OpenAlexW2788814541
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited18

Our title quotation is taken from an interview with the chief trustee of a leading Hindu temple in south London, and captures the curious mixture of philanthropy, politics, and individual ambition that has emerged around Sri Lankan Tamil temples in the diaspora. During the long years of civil war, temples became centres of mobilization for the growing Tamil diaspora, and were often accused of channelling funds to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and its various front organizations. Since the end of the war, in 2009, the same temples now support orphanages and other good works in Sri Lanka, and their efforts are starting to be emulated by temples in Sri Lanka itself. At the heart of our article is a dispute between the UK Charity Commission and the chief trustee of a London temple, who is accused of misuse of temple funds and 'failure to dissociate' the temple from a terrorist organization. A close reading of the case and its unexpected denouement reveals the difficulties of bounding the zone of philanthropy

Ancient history · Art · Diaspora · Hinduism · Political science · Politics · South asia · Spanish Civil War · Sri lanka · Tamil · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Religious studies

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