The Power of Kataragama: From “Hotspot” to “Cold Spot”?
This article explores the multiethnic and multireligious sacred place of Kataragama (Tamil: Kathirkamam) located at the southeast corner of Sri Lanka. For the devotees, Kataragama’s main attraction is the god Skanda, also known by many other names, for example Murukan, Kataragama Deviyo, or Mahasena...
| Published in: | Numen |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Numen
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Kataragama
/ Hotspot
/ Sanctuary
/ Pilgrimage
/ Religious pluralism
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AF Geography of religion BB Indigenous religions BL Buddhism KBM Asia KCD Hagiography; saints |
| Further subjects: | B
Sri Lanka
B Kataragama B Hotspots B postwar politics B territorialization B politics of space |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article explores the multiethnic and multireligious sacred place of Kataragama (Tamil: Kathirkamam) located at the southeast corner of Sri Lanka. For the devotees, Kataragama’s main attraction is the god Skanda, also known by many other names, for example Murukan, Kataragama Deviyo, or Mahasena. Kataragama attracts people from all ethnic and religious communities, as well as from all social strata in Sri Lankan society. Using Marianne Qvortrup Fibiger’s notion of “religious hotspots” as a starting point, this article analyzes how the “thaumaturgical power” of Kataragama forms the basis for the coexistence of multiple religious systems within the defined space of the sacred city. This coexistence, however, is under constant pressure from exclusionary nationalist and political forces. This transformation is analyzed with reference to the recent decades of Sinhala Buddhist politics of public space to “restore” Sri Lanka to dhammadipa, that is, sacred Buddhist territory. This raises questions about the possible loss of “thaumaturgical power,” as Kataragama is moving from having “ontic” multireligious qualities to “epistemic” qualities along majoritarian lines. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5276 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Numen
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341676 |