Parading in the City's Public Space

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal, Vol. 4 2018, 61-76 Peer reviewed article Open Access: content is licensed under CC BY 3.0 Parading in the city’s public space: Migrant Belonging through the Hare Krishna festivities1 Debora Baldelli Abstract The cosmopolitan character of Lisbon along with the process of touristification and gentrification of the city in the past ten years has changed its cultural activities. It also influenced the way in which the Lisbon City Council decided to integrate (or not) immigrant communities into a social and cultural policy focusing on “interculturality”. Immigrant neighbourhoods become tourist districts with “diversity”, changing the inhabitants’ very relationship with the city. Through the Yatra Ratha Festival, Hare Krishna devotees and Hindu immigrants together appropriate the public space to express themselves in the city where they live. I propose to discuss the role of performance in the public space as an expressive practice that provides moments of union between a diverse group of immigrants living in Lisbon who, despite having similar religious practices associated with Hinduism, belong to different religious groups and countries of origin. I argue that through the Ratha Yatra, participatory performance in the form of collective mantras, singing and dancing, becomes fundamental to creating a sense of belonging to the city of Lisbon. Keywords migration; performance; Hare Krishna; public space; expressive practices DOI 10.25364/08.4:2018.1.5 1 This article is based on my doctoral thesis entitled “Spiritual and expressive practices in a migratory context: an ethnography of the Hare Krishna Movement in the city of Lisbon”, at the New University of Lisbon, 2017, funded by Capes (11871-20); and an unfolding project focused on the Ratha Yatra Festival I developed inde- pendently after my viva. Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 62 Debora Baldelli | Parading in the city’s public space I propose to discuss how participatory performance can become fundamental to creating a sense of belonging to a very diverse group of immigrants in the city of Lisbon. In order to do that, I focus on how identities and the sense of belonging are experienced by the Hare Krishna devotees and the Hindu community through their collective mantras, singing and dancing activities in Lisbon’s public space. The Hare Krishna Movement was created from a Hindu tradition, which does not neces- sarily imply that the spiritual practice is part of Hinduism. Hare Krishna “Movement” is how devotees refer to the spiritual practice to which they belong. When the religious practice was registered in 1966 in the United States as ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Cons- ciousness), Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuphada, its founder, defined the practice as a “spiritual movement”. Among devotees of Lisbon, the Hare Krishna Movement is more commonly refer- red to as a “cultural movement”. The adoption of the term “movement” is also associated with the movement (motion) of its founder from India to the United States for the propagation of their spiritual practice and sending devotees to other countries to spread Krishna’s teachings. So, the Movement has always been “in movement” and transnational since its creation. The term “movement” is used in different areas such as the arts, sciences and philosophy to denote something new; a paradigm shift in a particular field; a desire to move to a new “place”; a change from one time to another. “Movement” can also be the same as “organisation” or a “collective”, a group of people. I propose to look at the Hare Krishna movement as a “cultural and spiritual movement” due to its dialogue with popular culture, especially with music, which can be seen in its expressive practices in temples and city streets. The Hare Krishna Movement activities in the temple and the public space of the city are attended by devotees and regular visitors of many nationalities mainly from countries such as Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Nepal, India, and Portuguese citizens from the former African colonies, especially Angola and Mozambique. In this article, I discuss how the Hare Krishna Move- ment provides migrants and participants of Hare Krishna Movement activities, different ways of belonging to the city through collective musical practices. I intend to discuss how the city’s dynamics influence these experiences and are influenced by it. I will also reflect on how the Hare Krishna Movement in Lisbon is increasingly bringing its “community” to the city’s public space of festivalization, by treating religious practice as a public spectacle (Rasmussen 2010: 125). Collective musical practices among Hare Krishna devotees Sankirtana is the most important devotional practice of the Hare Krishna Movement. The word has a double meaning, indicated by two distinct translations of its root. The Sanskrit verb “kirt”, from which derives the word kirtana, means, on one hand, to “praise” or “glorify” and, on the other, to “Call”. The prefix “san” means “all together” or “congregationally”. Thus, the act of Kirtana is the praise or glorification of God and an invitation for people to participate in this glorification. Therefore, sankirtana expresses that, when kirtana is performed congregationally, the glorification and submission to God is perfect or complete (Indradyunna s/d). The development of Krishna consciousness proposed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu and fol- lowed by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuphada focuses on the practice of sankirtana, which means “chanting the holy names”. In the sixteenth century, sankirtana created a real “commu- Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 63 Debora Baldelli | Parading in the city’s public space nity of Singing” in India, with strong membership in the country, something close to a mass movement (Adami 2013:194). Hare Krishnas believe that mantra chanting does not only benefit those who perform it, but all those who are are within its reach and can hear it (Brown 2014: 458). The musical practice is used to communicate Krishna consciousness so that individuals with different life experiences can find a meaning for life (Ibid.:470). It is, therefore, the collective devotional musical practice that facilitates one‘s spiritual experience. The focus on Hare Krishna devotional practice is not only listening to, but experiencing music (Fahy 2010: 5), which is done through the collective singing of mantras in a participatory mode. The chanting of mantras plays a central role in the interaction and cohesion between individuals present in the temple and street activities, whether devotees or visitors. It is through the collective performance that individuals experience a feeling of oneness with others (Turino 2008:2-3). The signs of this “social intimacy” are experienced directly - body to body - and, therefore, in the moment they are felt as true. According to Turino, we depend on social groups - our family, our friends, our tribe, our nation - to survive emotionally, economically and belong to something greater than ourselves (ibid.). Sankirtana is practised by all Hare Krishna devotees around the globe through two kinds of musical practices, bhajan and kirtan, which focus on the collective chanting of mantras in temples and in the streets. Both bhajan and kirtan are always performed in a call and response mode. The individual who is leading the musical practice indicates the tempo and the melody both to the public and to other musicians. In this sense, the musical practice among devotees is always participatory, with different levels of participation, from those responsible for playing and singing, to those who choose only to clap or repeat mantra lyrics. The Hare Krishna Movement in Lisbon organises several events, some weekly, others spo- radically. There are three activities that all Hare Krishna temples do: the Sunday Festival, Hari- nama and Food for Life, the first one in the temple and the other two on the city streets. In 2016, the annual festival Ratha Yatra Lisbon was also founded. Among devotees of Krishna and regular visitors, the participation in musical practice suggests how these activities can help overcome barriers of social or cultural differences, allowing moments of integration between different groups (Brown 2014: 455). Music can also be used for self-identification and development of citizenship (Machin-Autenrieth 2013). The voice should also be at the centre of debates on collective religious practices in the public space. Ethnomusicologist Monique Ingalls, in her research about Jesus in the City Parade, in Canada, suggests the use of voice is related to how participants use the performance to guide them in a broader context or a new society (2012: 339). The author states that when using music in their performances in the streets, participants are at the same time confronting and trying to be persuasive towards those outside their “community.” In this sense, it is possible to say that occupying the public space with the voice is a way of living in the city as a citizen and also a way of seeking to legitimise one‘s spiritual practice. Hare Krishna Movement in Portugal Located in the centre of Lisbon, the Hare Krishna temple is a transnational space of migrant sociability. It is attended by devotees and visitors of many nationalities mainly from countries Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 64 Debora Baldelli | Parading in the city’s public space such as Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Nepal, India, and Portuguese citizens from the former African colonies, especially Angola and Mozambique. Some are former devotees; others become devotees in Portugal, and others are just regular visitors. The inception of the Hare Krishna Movement in Portugal occurred between 1975 and 1977 through migrants from Brazil, Canada, U.S.A. and Angola. The date of the arrival of the first devotee in Portugal is not precise. The first Portuguese devotee of Krishna came from Angola in the mid-70s and became a devotee officially in France soon after.

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