Religion and Modernity in the Himalaya

Description

Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era. Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Notes on translation and transliteration Map of the Himalaya Introduction 1 Modern religiosities, religious modernities: views from the Himalaya Part I Space, place, and material modernities 2 In the mountains of radical juxtaposition: Kedarnath at the beginning of a new millennium 3 T-Pop and the Lama: Buddhist “rites out of place” in Tibetan monastery-produced VCDs 4 Pocketing the Himalaya: sacred souvenirs of the Chār Dhām pilgrimage Part II Gods and place: migration, deities, and identities 5 From text to internet, aniconic to statuesque: modern textual and performative innovations in a Nepali goddess tradition 6 Adulterous Dotiyal or protector of the oppressed? Modernity and the reframing of Ganganath’s itihas in Uttarakhand Part III Education, governance, official discourses, and religion 7 Redefining monastic education: the case of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery in the Kathmandu Valley 8 Schooling virtue: education for “spiritual development” in Northern Pakistan 9 At the boundary of modernity: religion, technocracy, and waste management in Bhutan Index