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Examines the worship of a Hindu deity known as Muneeswaran in contemporary Singapore. The strong presence and veneration of this male deity on the island, and the innovative styles of religiosity now associated with him, justify calling Muneeswaran a ‘new’ god in the Indian diaspora. Sinha documents a neglected aspect of local Hinduism and the ritual domain surrounding guardian deities (kaaval deivam) such as Muneeswaran. She raises a broader question: why has this deity, brought from Tamilnadu to Malaya more than 170 years ago, such a strong appeal for young Singaporean Hindus three and four generations removed from their Indian origins? Her exploration of these issues provides an ethnographic documentation of urban-based Hindu religiosity in contemporary Singapore, and makes an important contribution to the global study of religion in the diasporas. This study "will become an important link in a small but growing interdisciplinary field: the study of continuity, change and innovation in new urban Hindu-based religiosity" (external reader). "The work ... greatly enhances our knowledge not only of the substantive contents of Singaporean Hinduism in general and of the domain of Muneeswaran worship in particular but of specific developments, trends and tensions therein, relevant to broader and theoretical questions pertaining to interrelationships between differing levels of Hinduism and to diasporic processes at work in other Hindu locales". (external reader) Contents: Contextualizing Muneeswaran Worship in ‘Singaporean Hinduism’; The Issue of Identity: Who is Muneeswaran?; Locating Muneeswaran in Urban Singapore; A Popularity Question: Muneeswaran’s Appeal; Muneeswaran: Straddling Different Domains; Making Sense of Muneeswaran in Singapore: What are the Possibilities?; Bibliography; Index Published by NIAS
Press, NIAS Monographs # 107 |
