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Contemporary Hinduism Contemporary Hinduism Edited by P. Pratap Kumar © Editorial matter and selection, P. Pratap Kumar, 2013. Individual chapters, the contributors, 2013. This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by Acumen Acumen Publishing Limited 4 Saddler Street Durham DH13NP, UK lSD, 70 Enterprise Drive Bristol, CT 06010, USA www.acumenpublishing.com ISBN: 978-1-84465-689-9 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-1-84465-690-5 (paperback) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in Gentium. Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4'fY. Contents List of illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix A note on tenninology X Introduction 1 P. Pratap Kumar ji~rl; I: Hinduism in diaspora rrittgduction 15 1. lbi~~p 0ric and indigenous Hinduism in North America 17 jetferycDitong 2. Nepa'U'fiindus in southern California 32 Deep~h,imkhada 3, Trij'lidjj;dcHiridUism 45 Paul Young~r 4. Hinduism in the Caribbean 57 lndrani Ral(!pqsml 5. Tamil Saivismj)i\ l'fqrway 67 Knut A. jacobsen P~ II: Contemp<lr"F)' Jiinduism in north India Introduction 81 §; I~e. indrajatra festival of Kathmandu, Nepal 83 Michael Baltutis 1;• y~rnacular Hinduism in Rajasthan 97 'Jujtoinette E. DeNanilli • v List of illustrations 1.1 Central altar of HARI temple, with priests Sri Seetharamaswamy and Sri Naranji Pandya zo ,~,,.1 Newar girls participating in a yihi ceremony in southern California 33 'Z.2 Women going to celebrate a Tij party in southern California 39 3:c~ The priest making offerings to the goddess 53 3:Z iCaJin temple setting with a few worshippers entering 54 4.1 ~~N~aljhandis outside a Hindu home 59 5.1 Priests and worshippers during evening aratf in Sivasubramaniyar Ahiy~fu, Oslo 69 5.2 Rath~i~vwn, Sivasubramaniyar Alayam, Oslo 70 6.1 A m<llt'J"erforms pilja to Indra's pole before it is pulled to the palace 90 6.2 Captlygjmage oflndra inside the courtyard of Kathmandu's royal palace, 91 7.1 Female:iJ:firtdu ascetics in Rajasthan 99 7.2 Femal~·,5%/1n.ls holcUng satsang with devotees in a village 102 8.1 Guru Gfaifl:h S,ahib under a canopy in a Singapore temple 116 8.2 Image of]~lJl~ La! in a shrine in Lucknow temple 119 >9.1 Mfirtis of 1\~shar and Purushottam 126 .. 9.2 female nity~ fi'itii 131 156 157 169 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 12.2 Ramnami in ritual dress 172 13.1 Chaitanya and his companions dancing 180 13.2 Gaudiya Vaig1avas dancing, Baruipur 184 14.1 Women engaged in worship activities at a grouping of stone snake images in the courtyard of a goddess temple in chennai 192 14.2 Niiga image decorated by a young engineering graduate 197 15.1 A ku!am, or bathing tank 208 15.2 An image of Sasta 212 16.1 AJ.lta) reclining 226 16.2 AJ.lfi!! at her wedding 227 17.1 Moolavirat (Sri Venkateswara) 234 17.2 Temple procession 238 viii 9. Devotional expressions inth; Swaminarayan communit¥ HannaH. Kim If you go to the village of Bochasau today, a village in Kheda distri<;i:l in:':t:he'l western Indiau state of Gujarat, you cau visit the very first temple cotlgtruct~~ by the Bochasauwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayau Saustlj~ Hind\iii community. This stone temple, with its tall carved pinnacles, each adome~l with a red aud white striped flag, is the daily site of pilgrimage aud olrinte~~i devotional activity. It is also the physical beginning point of a remarkable ni~~ tory. On 5 June 1907, when the Bochasan Swaminarayan temple Was':lnali~~ rated, there were few amenities for visitors, and no laudscaping or letify tre~~~ under which to seek some shade. There was only an unfinished temple.~~~ housed, in its central aud therefore most importaut shrine (garbha ~ha), \~ precious icons, or miirtis, of Akshar and Purushottam. Side by side, witi)t ilillaft; standing to the left of Purushottam, this positioning of the two miirtis woU)® distinguish the Bochasau Swaminarayau temple from other existing al!d olde)ll Swaminarayan temples. The ritual awakening of these miirtis (Figure ~\1) ru1flt~ Figure 9.1 Miirtis of Akshar (right) ani! Purushottam (left) (photo courtesy ofBAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha). 126 DEVOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE SWAMINARAYAN COMMUNITY the corresponding consecration of the Bochasan temple signalled, in a public way, the inauguration of not just a place of worship but a new devotional community. The community that grew out of the Bochasan temple debut becomes known, over time, as Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or "BAPS". In its formal name, the geographic locus of its beginning, Bochasan, is acknowledged along with the central foci of Swaminarayan devotionalism, the existential and eternal entities, Akshar and Purushottam. Who are Akshar and Purushottam? And how is the dynamic between devotee to Akshar and Purush­ pttam experienced and cultivated by devotees? Or, to put it another way, what does jt mean when a devotee happily declares, "I'm Swaminarayan"? The story of the Bochasan temple is the story of Swaminarayan leaders, the g)lf!lS, and the devotees, who are known as satsangis. In its practices, ri.tuals i\!ld Gujarati language use, BAPS satsangis share similarities with much older SWlll1linarayan and other regional Hindu communities.' Yet, it is the ways in W.hich BAPS satsangis turn towards Akshar and Purushottam in thejr practices and .rituals that distinguishes BAPS bhakti, or mode of offering devotion. For m'!!'Y !{in<;lus, questions about what remains following bodily death and what is rel:Jgm into another body are the basis of much reflection and concern. Ideally, for Wndus, it is escape from rebirth that is desired. BAPS bhakti from the devo­ te~s' .perspective provides a reassuringly attainable path towards insuring that the \ndestructible aspect of one's self, the atman, will not be reborn into another peingdn other words, for Swaminarayan devotees, the BAPS tradition succeeds in ot:f~ring a convincing programme for how to live in the world while simui­ tane'imsly cultivating one's being, composed of the sentient and non-separable ,entit(e:; of the mind and body, to absorb the knowledge that will lead to the 4trn@',s release from rebirth. This knowledge does not come naturally or easily. ·To understand the success and appeal ofBAPS is thus to see how Swaminarayan .~ev0tipnalism inspires and resona.tes within its followers. 'Co The !lim of this chapter is to approach the life of the Swaminarayan satsangi ;1;ll)'pughtwo areas of devotional expression: nitya piijii and sevi!. This is a lim­ ;,)~d fotqs, but one that can help us to appreciate how being a Swaminarayan ,:.~eyotee Wests on understanding the self and body in relation to the entities Al\shar em:d Purushottam. s,c.;Nitya puja is daily devotional worship that satsangis perform each morning. !~gyilis volunteered work that satsangis conduct in order to please Akshar and 0})1J!'ushottam. As we shall see, nitya puja and seva are crucial components of each j~l1i,~vidu'l!,satsangi' s devotional practice. Whether in the personal performance 0\9~pitya pfijii, or the outwardly directed work that seva often entails, both devo­ ~g!lal eXJ?ressions highlight and reinforce the central relationships of satsangi ~2~:;'J<shar,1Jhd Purushottam. Again, we can ask, what makes someone a Swami­ ~~~ayan Flindu? How do satsangis sustain their devotional desires while living ~~~~e wor:ld? What makes BAPS a successful contemporary guru-base<;! Hindu li'J!!ovementZ In answering these questions, we will see that it is the concepts 127 CON-TEMPORARY HINDUISM IN NORTH INDIA of Akshar and Purushottam that permeate, guide, and influence Swamina{ayatf ways ofbeing. The BAPS community More than a hundred years after the Bochasan temple was built:, BAP,s haJi expanded from Gujarat to other parts of India, Europe, Asia, Australia an'<J:iNolill' America. From one temple to over seven hundred, Swaminarayan Hilid;us are shaping the contours of a global Hinduism that perhaps could not ha)i'e been' imagined if! its colonial Indian beginnings.' Its temples and the mor~;recent' "Akshardham" temple-monument complexes have attracted much'ii(lteres\ and have become popular tourist destinations. BAPS counts its memb¢t!ihiptW be around one million followers, nearly all of whom are of Gujarat:i''4!1ritag~f Included in this community, or satsang, are the more than eight hun'gped me~ who have taken vows of celibacy and dedicate their time and skills fullyJo BAPSl; These men are called sadhus (in Hindi) or santo (in Gujarati). In addit):ep to cui£ tivating their personal devotional practices, sadhus are responsiblef<lr·14pppo~l ing the growth of the global BAPS community and insuring that Swatl!inaray~ teachings and practices are properly disseminated. There are currel;lt!y sadhi!S1 living in most of the areas of the world where BAPS devotees have sej;\:Jed, ·::;·~ We can think of the broad BAPS satsang as consisting of three sections; Th~ smallest section consists of the sadhus. The second is the ifiternatio!)ij] c0r~·~~j approximately 55,000 followers who are regular volunteers for Swai)l}naray,'!l\·~ projects. The third section is the balance of devotees whose degree ofr;conp:riiW~ ment to BAPS events and to Swaminarayan prescriptions for beh;tvj~!Jr!di~§;f~ and devotional practices varies. The entire satsang is centrally aWftiJ!list~!'~ltl~ from Ahmedabad, Gujarat by a board of trustees and the most hnpoft;ailt BAPS~ administrative role, the administrative president and religious head·wl;ip is ~~lj known as guru.
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