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Clothing as Devotion in Contemporary Hinduism

Clothing as Devotion in Contemporary Hinduism

$59
Author:Urmila Mohan
ISBN 13:9789360800772
Binding:Hardbound
Language:English
Year:2024
Pages:vi+82pp., 24 cm
Published On:5th December 2024
Subject:Philosophy and Religion/Hinduism

About the Book

In Clothing as Devotion in Contemporary Hinduism, Urmila Mohan explores the materiality and visuality of cloth and clothing as devotional media in contemporary Hinduism. Drawing upon ethnographic research into the global missionizing group ‘International Society for Krishna Consciousness’ (ISKCON), she studies translocal spaces of worship, service, education, and daily life in the group’s headquarters in Mayapur and other parts of India. Focusing on the actions and values of deity dressmaking, devotee clothing and paraphernalia, Mohan shows how activities, such as embroidery and chanting, can be understood as techniques of spirituality, reverence, allegiance – and she proposes the new term ‘efficacious intimacy’ to help understand these complex processes. The monograph brings theoretical advances in Anglo-European material culture and material religion studies into a conversa­tion with South Asian anthropology, sociology, art history, and religion. Ultimately, it demonstrates how embodied interactions as well as re­presentations shape ISKCON’s practitioners as devout subjects, while connecting them with the divine and the wider community.