Abstract
This chapter focuses on two material objects produced by devotees and consumed as ritual objects within Singapore’s Hindu domains. The first are visual representations of Hindu divinity through devotees’ imagination of divinity that emerges through their personal encounters with deities in dreams, visions, sightings, meditative reflections and artistic endeavours. The second concerns structures known as kavatis, which are physically carried in pilgrimage by devotees in the Hindu festival Tai Pucam. The act of kavati-making and producing images of divinity marks Singapore as a site for the production and manufacture of specific ritual objects, through commercial initiatives as well as individual efforts. Engaging the work of Hindu devotees as artists, producers and consumers enables broader theoretical discussions about materiality and its register in Hindu religiosity.
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Sinha, V. (2017). Made in Singapore: Conceiving, Making and Using Ritual Objects in Hindu Domains. In: Koning, J., Njoto-Feillard, G. (eds) New Religiosities, Modern Capitalism, and Moral Complexities in Southeast Asia. Religion and Society in Asia Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2969-1_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2969-1_11
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