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Hinglaj Devi: Solidifying Hindu Identity at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Schaflechner Jürgen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/aman.13348
Subject(s) - hinduism , pilgrimage , interpretation (philosophy) , plural , caste , hegemony , sociology , ethnic group , identity (music) , ethnography , history , anthropology , gender studies , religious studies , aesthetics , ancient history , political science , law , politics , philosophy , linguistics
By exploring the features of Hinglaj Devi, the most important Hindu pilgrimage site in Pakistan, this article reveals how one local caste's version became hegemonic at Hinglaj and has today become practically synonymous with the “real” or the “actual” tradition of the goddess. Mainly utilizing my ethnographic material, this article describes how the increasingly plural religious landscapes at Hinglaj—seen in the vast crowds the annual festivals attract from a wide range of castes, languages, ethnicities, and nationalities—has not led to a democratization of interpretation of the shrine's various traditions but rather to the solidification of a particular interpretation of Hinduism favored by the local Lasi Lohana community. Thanks to the vast institutional network attached to the temple committee—largely composed of Lasi Lohana group members—Lohana practices at the temple have been framed and disseminated in a way that suggests their association with broader notions of progress and education. [ ritual journey, solidification, Baluchistan, Hinglaj Devi, Pakistani Hinduism ]