“Temple of My Heart”: Understanding Religious Space in Montreal's
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“Temple of my Heart”: Understanding Religious Space in Montreal’s Hindu Bangladeshi Community Aditya N. Bhattacharjee School of Religious Studies McGill University Montréal, Canada A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts August 2017 © 2017 Aditya Bhattacharjee Bhattacharjee 2 Abstract In this thesis, I offer new insight into the Hindu Bangladeshi community of Montreal, Quebec, and its relationship to community religious space. The thesis centers on the role of the Montreal Sanatan Dharma Temple (MSDT), formally inaugurated in 2014, as a community locus for Montreal’s Hindu Bangladeshis. I contend that owning temple space is deeply tied to the community’s mission to preserve what its leaders term “cultural authenticity” while at the same time allowing this emerging community to emplace itself in innovative ways in Canada. I document how the acquisition of community space in Montreal has emerged as a central strategy to emplace and renew Hindu Bangladeshi culture in Canada. Paradoxically, the creation of a distinct Hindu Bangladeshi temple and the ‘traditional’ rites enacted there promote the integration and belonging of Bangladeshi Hindus in Canada. The relationship of Hindu- Bangladeshi migrants to community religious space offers useful insight on a contemporary vision of Hindu authenticity in a transnational context. Bhattacharjee 3 Résumé Dans cette thèse, je présente un aperçu de la communauté hindoue bangladaise de Montréal, au Québec, et surtout sa relation avec l'espace religieux communautaire. La thèse s'appuie sur le rôle du temple Sanatan Dharma de Montréal (MSDT), inauguré officiellement en 2014, en tant que point focal communautaire pour les Bangladeshis hindous de Montréal. J'avance que le fait que la communauté soit propriétaire de l'espace du temple est profondément lié à sa mission de préserver ce que ses dirigeants qualifient d'«authenticité culturelle», tout en permettant à cette communauté émergente de s'intégrer de manière novatrice au Canada. Je documente comment l'acquisition de l'espace communautaire à Montréal est apparue comme une stratégie primordiale pour implanter de façon renouvelée la culture bangladaise hindoue au Canada. Paradoxalement, la création d'un temple hindou bangladais distinct et les rites «traditionnels» qui y sont pratiqués favorisent l'intégration et l'appartenance des Hindous Bangladeshis au Canada. La relation entre les migrants hindous-bangladais et l'espace religieux communautaire offre un aperçu utile d'une vision contemporaine de l'authenticité hindoue dans un contexte transnational. Bhattacharjee 4 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Résumé ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 4 Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................. 5 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter Outline and Scope of Project ......................................................................................... 9 Reflections on Researcher’s Subjectivity .................................................................................. 17 Chapter One: “Othering” Bangladeshi Hindus at Home and Transnationally ............................. 21 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 21 Bengal Community Formations in Historical Perspective ........................................................ 27 Dileep’s Testimony: 20th Century Religious Identity Politics in Bengal .................................. 40 “I did not go to war for this Bangladesh”: Contesting Bangladeshi Nationalisms in 2017 ...... 45 Chapter Two: Shifting Homelands–Creating Bangladeshi Contexts in Montreal ........................ 51 Understanding Caste in Hindu Bangladeshi Montreal .............................................................. 51 Sylhet, its History—and Shah Jalal, its Saint ............................................................................ 54 Sylhet: A remembered homeland .............................................................................................. 59 Bhanu Mama’s Testimony: From Sylhet and Tripura to London and Montreal ...................... 63 Sharmila Boudi’s Testimony: From Homemaker to Master of Ceremonies ............................ 71 Chapter Three: Multiple Identities of the MSDT ......................................................................... 79 Introduction: Crossing boundaries while inaugurating the MSDT ........................................... 79 Theorizing Religion in Diasporic Contexts ............................................................................... 85 The Early Hindu Bangladeshi Community and its Interactions with other Montreal Hindus .. 89 Recognizing Difference and Owning Temples ....................................................................... 100 The MSDT Today ................................................................................................................... 102 Concluding Reflections ............................................................................................................... 107 Ethnographic Sources ................................................................................................................. 109 Primary Interviews .................................................................................................................. 109 Selected MSDT Field Visits for Major Calendrical Temple Events (2014-2017) .................. 113 Published Works Cited ............................................................................................................... 115 Ethics Approval Certificate, McGill University ......................................................................... 123 Bhattacharjee 5 Table of Figures Figure 1: "We are All Bengalis" (Amra Sobai Bangali) ............................................................... 23 Figure 2: Greater Bengal (Reece 377) .......................................................................................... 28 Figure 3: Lady Justice before the Bangladesh Supreme Court (Tribune Desk) ........................... 46 Figure 4: Map of Bangladesh—Sylhet (Mannan) ......................................................................... 55 Figure 5: MSDT on Inauguration Day (March 8, 2014) ............................................................... 80 Figure 6: Temple visitors immersed in prayer .............................................................................. 82 Figure 7: Hindu Bangladeshi Women in red-white saris at MSDT Inauguration ........................ 84 Figure 8: ISKCON Montreal (Courtesy of Andrea Marion Pinkney) .......................................... 90 Figure 9: Principal deities at the Hindu Mission's main altar ....................................................... 94 Figure 10: 2017 Santoshi Ma Puja (Courtesy of Shaktibrata Haldar Manu) ............................. 105 Bhattacharjee 6 Acknowledgements ‘Joy Thakur, Joy Ma, Joy Swamiji’ Many people and institutions have assisted me during writing this thesis, and I am truly grateful to all of them. A thousand and one expressions of gratitude are due to my advisor, Dr. Andrea Marion Pinkney, for her guidance, motherly concern, careful reading of earlier drafts and making many insightful suggestions. I would not have been able to complete this thesis if it hadn’t been for her kindness, patience, and trust in my abilities. I am also grateful to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Greg Robinson from the Department of History at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) for his encouragement, friendship, and sound advice throughout my education at McGill University. I am very grateful to the administrative staff and graduate community at the School of Religious Studies for making my three years of graduate studies so fun and enjoyable. Ann Cernek, Luvana di Francesco, Samieun Khan, Deborah McSorley, and Francesca Maniaci have provided me with a great deal of assistance and helpful advice. Marek Ahnee, Darry Dinnell, Isabel Essebag, and Jingjing Li are just few of the many fellow graduate students whose camaraderie constantly helped and supported me through the most critical periods of my studies. My deepest and most heartfelt thanks go to my friends for their love and support. I am grateful to Alexandra Goldston, Neha Paliwal and Jon Spencer for their tireless help and support, and above all, for taking time off from their busy schedules to proofread my writing. Greg Horman, my dearest accomplice, deserves a round of applause his constant messages of support and warmth. I thank Vivek Verma for his consistent presence in my life, and for encouraging me to remain physically active and healthy during the most challenging instances of thesis writing. All the teachers and fellow-receptionists at Ashtanga Yoga Montreal deserve my thanks for the same reason. Puneet Mehra and Anand Sundararajan, friends who are like