Ritual Journeys in South Asia: Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space

249 Pages·2020·7.558 MB·English

by  Christoph Bergmann and Jürgen Schaflechner

Ritual Journeys in South Asia
This book focuses on the ritualized forms of mobility that constitute
phenomena of pilgrimage in South Asia and establishes a new analytical
framework for the study of ritual journeys.
The book advances the conceptual scope of ‘classical’ Pilgrimage Studies
and provides empirical depth through individual case studies. A key con-
cern is the strategies of ritualization through which actors create, assemble
and (re-)articulate certain modes of displacement to differentiate themselves
from everyday forms of locomotion. Ritual journeys are understood as
being both productive of and produced by South Asia’s socio-economically
uneven, politically charged and culturally variegated landscapes. From var-
ious disciplinary angles, each chapter explores how spaces and movements
in space are continually created, contested and transformed through ritual
journeys. By focusing on this co-production of space and mobility, the book
delivers a conceptually driven and empirically grounded engagement with
the diverse and changing traditions of ritual journeying in South Asia.
Interdisciplinary in its approach, the book is a must-have reference
work for academics interested in South Asian Studies, Religious Studies,
Anthropology and Human Geography with a focus on pilgrimage and the
socio-spatial ideas and practices of ritualized movements in South Asia.
Christoph Bergmann is an assistant professor in the Department of
Geography, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Jürgen Schaflechner is an assistant professor in the Department of Modern
South Asian Languages and Literatures, South Asia Institute, University of
Heidelberg, Germany.
Routledge South Asian Religion Series
8 Yoga in Modern Hinduism
Hariharānanda Āraṇya and Sāṃkhyayoga
Knut A. Jacobsen
9 Women, Religion and the Body in South Asia
Living with Bengali Bauls
Kristin Hanssen
10 Religion, Space and Conflict in Sri Lanka
Colonial and Postcolonial Contexts
Elizabeth J. Harris
11 Religion and Technology in India
Spaces, Practices and Authorities
Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen and Kristina Myrvold
12 The Baghdadi Jews in India
Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities, and Creating
Super-Diversity
Edited by Shalva Weil
13 Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia
Insiders, Outsiders, and Interlopers
Edited by Gil Ben-Herut, Jon Keune, and Anne Monius
14 Ritual Journeys in South Asia
Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space
Edited by Christoph Bergmann and Jürgen Schaflechner
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com
Ritual Journeys in South Asia
Constellations and Contestations of
Mobility and Space
Edited by
Christoph Bergmann and
Jürgen Schaflechner
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Christoph Bergmann and
Jürgen Schaflechner; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Christoph Bergmann and Jürgen Schaflechner to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors
for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-05500-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-16627-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
Jitnī taklīf utnā fāydā
The more pain, the more gain
(Famous saying amongst South Asian pilgrims)
Pilgrims in Baluchistan, Pakistan (J. Schaflechner, 04.2012).

Contents
List of maps ix
List of figures xi
List of tables xiii
List of contributors xv
Foreword xix
JOHN EADE
Acknowledgements xxi
1 Introduction: constellations and contestations of mobility and
space in South Asian ritual journeys 1
CHRISTOPH BERGMANN AND JÜRGEN SCHAFLECHNER
2 In fear of the past: the pilgrimage to Badrinath in perspective 11
HANS JÜRGEN DAVID
3 Journeying sovereignties: ritual travelling and networks of
power in a West Himalayan kingdom 29
LOKESH OHRI
4 Wandering god: how young Himalayans negotiate religion,
caste identity and modernity 63
KARIN M. POLIT
5 Places, rituals and past worlds: encounters on a Tibetan
pilgrimage in North India 85
NIKE-ANN SCHRÖDER
6 Ritual displacement as process of constructing and
de-constructing boundaries in a Sufi pilgrimage of Pakistan 119
MICHEL BOIVIN
viii Contents
7 “To worship our ‘boss’ (the Buddha)”: youth religiosity in a
popular pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka 139
PREMAKUMARA DE SILVA
8 Vailankanni Mata and Anglo-Indian Catholics: rising
postcolonial devotion and her unlikely pilgrim devotees 157
ROBYN ANDREWS AND BRENT HOWITT OTTO
9 Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage: the Sufi-shrine of Viśālgaḍh 181
DEEPRA DANDEKAR
10 Approaches to pilgrimage: reading some post-Independence
pilgrimage accounts in modern South Asian languages 197
HANS HARDER
11 Afterword: on pilgrimage and plural paradigms 217
SIMON COLEMAN
Index 221
List of maps
3.1 Map showing Mahasu territory 30
3.2 The tours and territories of the Mahasu divine kings 41
4.1 Map of Jakh’s journey. Map by Niels Harm, South Asia
Institute, University of Heidelberg 64
6.1 Main quoted places in Sehwan Sharif (Courtesy Sophie
Reynard, MIFS) 133