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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Tamil – Religion'
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1
Blake, Lisa. "Visualizing Amman: womanhood, the goddess, and middle-class modernity in Tamil religious cinema." Thesis, McGill University, 2012. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=106332.
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This thesis examines Tamil Ammaṉ films (ammaṉ paṭaṅkaḷ), a specific genre of South Indian cinema that centres on the figure of the fierce goddess Māriyammaṉ. The study analyzes the films in the context of class and caste in South India, focusing specifically on how India's emergent middle class has shaped changing constructions of womanhood and religious practice in South India. Middle-class status is an overarching and recurrent theme in Ammaṉ films, which also consistently deploy and negotiate ideas about "tradition" and "modernity". I argue that the films themselves both represent and reify middle-class notions of religiosities and womanhood, while simultaneously serving a pedagogical purpose for audiences, namely, articulating a way of being middle class.Cette thèse s'intéresse aux films tamouls portant sur Ammaṉ «ammaṉ paṭaṅkaḷ», genre cinématographique propre au sud de l'Inde consacré à la figure terrifiante de la déesse Māriyammaṉ. Ce travail analyse ces films dans le contexte des classes et des castes qui caractérisent le sud de l'Inde. Il s'agit en particulier d'étudier la manière dont la classe moyenne indienne émergente participe aux transformations qui touchent la représentation de la femme et les pratiques religieuses de cette région. Le statut de la classe moyenne est un thème dominant et récurrent dans les films portant sur Ammaṉ, ces derniers exploitant et négociant constamment les idées de «tradition» et «modernité». Je montre que les films exposent aussi bien qu'ils consolident les conceptions de la classe moyenne sur les pratiques de la religion et les femmes, tout en ayant une portée pédagogique pour les spectateurs, autrement dit tout en proposant une manière d'être classe moyenne.
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Baby, Marianne. "Children's Perspectives on Religion : The Case of Christian Children in Tamil Nadu, India." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Norsk senter for barneforskning, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-17554.
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This thesis is about Christian children's perspectives on religion in Tamil Nadu, India. More specifically the thesis seeks to explore how children view religion and how they seek knowledge about religion in their daily lives, examine what role religion plays in their everyday lives and examine how children's perspectives on religion influence their social practices. Various theories and concepts are used to analyze children's perspectives on religion. A broadened conception of the sociology of religion together with a broadening up of the conception of sociology of childhood has given this study an advantage to shed a new light on children and religion. A mosaic research approach involving multiple, qualitative methods of data collection have been used. The combination between several different participatory tools (see appendices) and the more traditional methodology of interviewing and observations provided me with a wellgrounded understanding of – and factual insights into – children's perspectives on religion. It has often been proved challenging for children to grasp what religion is. However, this study has found out that children's perspectives on religion were rather straightforward and related to something personal and everyday life experiences. Children in this research had their own personal experiences on religion and highly, idiosyncratic ways of thinking. Religion is constantly encountered in all the arenas of Christian children's lives in Tamil Nadu. This study has found that religion plays a major role in helping children actively negotiate their own religious lives in the overlapping spaces between children's and adults’ worlds; spaces of play, school and friendships. It was found out that children's perspectives on religion influence their social practices, and their social practices influence their perspectives on religion. Furthermore, the findings of this thesis reveal that viewing children either as human beings or human-becomings should be brought to the level of hybridism. From this study's theoretical examinations and empirical findings on both the social and religious aspects of children's lives, the artificial analytical 'being-becoming dichotomy' is both non-existent and fluid. Children are both human beings and social agents in their own right; and human-becomings in search of maturation seeking for changes and transformations in their social, spiritual/religious lives.
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Gross, Victoria. "Reconstructing Tamil masculinities : Kāvaṭi and Viratam among Sri Lankan men in Montréal." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=116131.
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This thesis examines masculinity in the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora through two ritual practices, kavat&dotbelow;i and viratam. I argue that these practices are expressions of masculine identity and articulations of anxiety rooted in the refugee experience. Kavat&dotbelow;i, a ritual piercing and ecstatic dance, and viratam, a rigorous fast, reconstruct masculinities fragmented by expatriation and the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Through ritual performance, men fashion themselves as the selfless heroes of traditional Tamil literature without negating their fluency as modern Tamil-Canadians. By voicing rupture and enacting reprieve, the men who perform these rites incur individual catharsis. New non-Brahmin masculine identities that draw their authority from renunciation and asceticism as opposed to social privilege emerge in this diasporic context. Employing analyses of literature, political propaganda, and ethnography this thesis demonstrates the powerful relationship between ritual performance and masculine identity. In kavat&dotbelow;i and viratam, the male body becomes the site of contested personal, political, and religious narratives.
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Viagappan, Bernard Joseph. "Rediscovering the Theology of Lay Ministry and Presenting a Pastoral Plan: “The Integral Christian Formation Of Lay Leaders” for the Catholic Church in Tamil Nadu, India." Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School, 2018. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/545.
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Even after the Vatican II has categorically revealed the role and the place of the laity in the Church, there is so much of resistance and cynicism prevailing among the clergy and the people in the Indian Church about this clarion call of the Council. Around 90% of Catholics keep themselves passive in their faith practice. As we delay the promotion of active and full use of the lay potential, the greater the chance and number of the lay faithful losing their faith. A strong feeling of insecurity in the clergy leads to distrust of lay talents and charisms and it also leads to blocking the gifts of the Lord and limiting the participatory Church in India. As a result, the ministry of the laity has become totally dependent on the clergy, which is totally against the vision of the communion ecclesiology of Vatican II. Therefore, the creation of awareness among the lay people on their singular role in carrying out the mission of the Church in our world is essential today. To achieve this goal, this pastoral synthesis project is prepared. In an effort to understand the context of the project, first, a case is described; second, basic background of Indian socio-religious-cultural background is elaborated; third, some of the most significant biblical and traditional theological resources and reflections on laity and ministry are discussed, especially exploring teachings of Vatican II and Pope Francis; and finally, in order to help alleviate the problem, a pastoral plan of “Integral Christian Growth Formation of Lay Leaders” is presented in detail. The members of Parish Pastoral Councils, leaders of Small Christian Communities, and Catechism teachers are considered as a focus group for this formation. Though the renewal of the laity in their identity and nature is illustrated in general, the tentative project plan, in particular, is presented for the Tamil Nadu region of India. On the whole, collaborative shared ministry of laity and clergy is proposed not as a concession by the clergy, but as a norm. Thus, through this project, some thousands of committed lay leaders will be identified, trained, empowered, commissioned and followed up, which will bring great revival in the life of the Church in Tamil Nadu, India.
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Gillet, Valérie. "La création d'une iconographie śivaïte narrative : incarnations du dieu dans les temples pallava construits." Paris 3, 2006. http://www.theses.fr/2006PA030030.
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Dès la fin du VIIème siècle, le pays tamoul voit l'érection de temples construits sous la dynastie des Pallava. Dédiés essentiellement à Śiva, leurs façades s'ornent de représentations de la divinité qui s'incarne sous différents aspects. Le dieu se présente autant sous une forme bénéfique, sauvage, sanguinaire que combattante, victorieuse et royale. L'iconographie narrative śivaïte ayant été jusque là peu développée, la mise en image des nombreux exploits de Śiva doit s'inventer. S'inspirant à la fois de la tradition mythologique pan-indienne ainsi que de traditions locales, la dynastie des Pallava crée une iconographie qui n'hésite pas à intégrer également des éléments de divers courants religieux. Si certaines représentations naissent et disparaissent avec la dynastie, la majorité d'entre elles influenceront cependant toute l'iconographie méridionale postérieureFrom the end of the VIIth century onwards, temples were built in tamil land under pallava patronage. Essentially dedicated to Śiva, their walls are adorned with representations of god embodied in various aspects. He can be represented in a benign form, savage, covered with blood as well as a victorious and royal one. The narrative śaiva iconography was not well developed until this time, and the figuration of different deeds of Śiva has to be invented. The pallava dynasty created an iconography inspired at the same time by the pan Indian mythology and the local tradition, borrowing various elements to various religious movements. If some of the representations appear and disappear with the dynasty, most of them, nevertheless, will influence the posterior southern iconography
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Subbiah, Ganapathy. "Roots of Tamil religious thought /." Pondicherry : Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture, 1991. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37493863q.
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Sekar, Radhika. "Global reconstruction of Hinduism: A case study of Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/6108.
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The main hypothesis of this dissertation is that the emergence, development, and subsequent spread of modern Hinduism, beginning from the late 18 th century India, are products of an ongoing process of globalization. The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Canada is an example of the larger historical process of a globalization of Hinduism. It is therefore argued that any analysis of contemporary socio-religious change must be undertaken within the broader parameters of globalization theory. The discussion begins with an examination of the social and historical contexts that led to the emergence of Hinduism as a "religion" in the modern sense of the term, and surveys its spread and development in the global diaspora. It is proposed that such factors as population size, ethnic composition, and density, along with socio-political and technological developments at universal and particular levels, each have played prominent roles in the reconstruction of Hinduism in minority situations. This assumption is illustrated with a case study of Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada. The globalising processes of Sri Lankan Tamils began at the end of the 17th century when Ceylon came under Portuguese rule. The introduction of modern institutions under subsequent Dutch and British rule escalated the process, bringing about socio-religious changes that led to the current political situation. Consequently, Sri Lankan Tamils began arriving in Canada in the 1980s as refugees. The majority settled in Toronto and Montreal where they soon began reconstructing their religious institutions and temples. Three particular religious institutions, the Ganesha Temple in Toronto, the Thirumurukan Temple in Montreal and the Hindu Temple of Ottawa-Carleton, are examined in order to determine how Tamils are reconstructing Hinduism as a minority religion in Canada under global conditions. Results based on field data show the occurrence of "globalization", that is the simultaneous globalization of local forms of Hinduism and the localization of global Hinduism.
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Jebanesan, Albert Wilfred. "When horizons darken : the process and experience of religious conversion among Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in London." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30318.
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This work is an inquiry into the religious conversion from folk Hinduism into Pentecostal Christianity among Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in London. There is an estimated number of 35,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in London. Many of them have decided to 'change their religion' in their quest for a community. They have formed some 22 new All-Tamil Pentecostal congregations in London, with an overall attendance of some 3,000 every Sunday. The overwhelming majority of their members are Tamils from Sri Lanka, and most of them converted from their ancestral folk Hinduism into a variety of Pentecostal Christianity. Until the present time (July 1999), the language of communication and communion of the religious services was almost exclusively Tamil; there are now signs of English being gradually introduced in order to incorporate Tamil children who are becoming more fluent in English than in Tamil. There are indications that this trend towards bilingualism and biculturalism in the religious services will spread steadily in the future. The author begins his story in the integrated life of Sri Lankan Tamil villages before the war, continues with the sudden disintegration of family, temple and village, and describes the predicament of Tamil refugees in London, concluding with their incorporation into small Pentecostal communities. The analysis of the data yields important results, such as: a) conversion is first to a community, and through the community to God; b) there is little evidence that the converts have thoroughly repudiated their previous Hindu religiosity; c) the belief system of the converts is of the utmost simplicity, without reference to the official teaching from the pulpits; d) the common life and mutual affection play a much more important role than common beliefs; e) the event of conversion and the ongoing incorporation, belonging and participation in their respective closely knit religious communities have had a profound therapeutical effect that facilitates the transition from loneliness to communion, from meaninglessness to purpose in life, and from being helpless to becoming helpful, and so forth.
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Harmon, Jonathan. "Leviathan drawn out by its tail: The religious ideas of the second half of Leviathan." Thesis, Boston College, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1401.
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Thesis advisor: David M. RasmussenLeviathan drawn out by its tail: The religious ideas of the second half of Leviathan Jonathan Harmon In this dissertation, I examine the religious writings of Thomas Hobbes, primarily as they occur in the second half of Leviathan (but drawing from other sources as necessary). My aim is to illustrate the continuity between Hobbes' thoughts on religion and other areas of his philosophy, especially his political theory. Hobbes' distinctive philosophical position, filtered through the lens of the Bible, is what animates the theology of the second half of Leviathan. In short: Hobbes is a materialist, a determinist, an empiricist, a nominalist, a political absolutist, and a social and intellectual elitist. He came of age in a Anglican-Calvinist context and had a humanist education. He was born on the cusp of the scientific revolution, and considered himself a scientist and a mathematician. All of these influences affect the views presented in Leviathan. Hobbes approaches the Christianity of his era hypercritically, with an eye to excising foreign and irrational influences (Greek, Scholastic philosophy, pagan religion, Catholic hierarchy) and replacing them with (ostensibly) Biblically-grounded and philosophically-robust doctrines. In effect, Hobbes is attempting to rationally reconstruct Christianity on the basis of Scripture and his own philosophical system, and his overriding concern is with political stability and the absolute authority of the sovereign. In Chapter 1, I focus on the first half of Leviathan. My discussion explores issues and controversies in the natural theology of Hobbes. Chapter 2 draws some parallels between Hobbes' determinist physics and the doctrine of predestination most often associated with Jean Calvin. Chapter 3 begins the analysis of the second half of Leviathan. I consider Hobbes' position on the relationship between reason and revelation. I consider the sources of religious belief from a Hobbesian perspective - miracles, prophecy, and scripture. Hobbes subjects all of these to rigorous epistemological critiques. In Chapter 4, I examine Hobbes' unique account of eschatology, and the purposes to which he puts it. Hobbes' account of heaven and hell, the soul and salvation, are startling to the modern reader, but actually are a idiosyncratic blend of the radical ideas of some of Hobbes' contemporaries and his own philosophical commitments. I consider some of the potential sources for these innovations in his theory, whether direct or indirect. Hobbes embraces a vision of the relationship between Church and State that emphasizes their unity and absolute subordination to the sovereign. In Chapter 5, I analyze this extended argument, highlighting Hobbes' encyclopedic attempt to demolish any argument that splits authority into temporal and spiritual realms. In Chapter 6 I consider the double question of Hobbes' religious sincerity: both as an individual and as the author of Leviathan. I consider the thoughts of the Straussian school as they apply to Hobbes. I return to the thoughts of Hobbes' contemporaries and what they believed that Hobbes was saying about religion. I compare Hobbes to Machiavelli on a major point of overlap
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Philosophy
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Sagaya, John Jesu. "Call to harmony through dialogue, reconciliation and tolerance overcoming the religious conflicts and violence in the life of the people of Tamil Nadu /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2003. http://www.tren.com.
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Eng, Sookhoe. "The illness with no 'tail' : how foreign-born UK Chinese understand and manage type 2 diabetes." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2012. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/41959/.
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Given the global rise of diabetes, the low uptake of GP services and prescribed medicine among UK Chinese is worrying. Little is known about their management of symptoms, compliance with treatment and implementation of lifestyle changes inherent in living with diabetes. Even less is known about whether they use Chinese folk medicine as part of their treatment regime. This qualitative study reduces this information gap based on data collected through focus group discussions and individual interviews. Eight focus group discussions were held in Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham and London with 37 foreign-born UK Chinese participants, including patients, friends and family members. On completion of the eight focus groups, 22 semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with both foreign and British-born Chinese with diabetes. Findings from the focus groups include (i) a reluctance to accept diabetes as a chronic illness, (ii) persistence in the use of folk remedies and (iii) an absence of use of professional Chinese medicine for diabetes, with the exception of one participant. Findings from the individual interviews on ideas about diabetes were similar to those from the focus groups, with further developments in the images of diabetes. With regards to self-management regimes, different coping styles indicated high levels of anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the nature of diabetes. Use of medicine, Chinese or otherwise, was found to be linked to levels of trust and integration with the host community. Themes consistent in both phases of the study include firstly, the description of diabetes as an illness with ‘no tail’ (mouhmei/meiwei 没尾) – the tail representing an end of an illness. Secondly, the cultural practice of food abstinence (gaihhauh/jikou 戒口) was perceived to be an effective method of control and prevention of the deterioration of diabetes. Finally, the relentless search for a cure expressed as ‘cutting the tail’ (tueihmei/duanwei 段尾) was evident in all the interviews. This study highlights the difficulties experienced by ethnic groups whose folk models of illness differ from those of biomedicine. It also addresses two important issues in the management of chronic illness: coping with uncertainty and the importance of trust. These results can help inform the future planning and delivery of healthcare services for ethnic minority groups.
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Frantzen, Silje. "Strîdharma i en norsk kontekst : en studie av Sri Lanka-tamilske hindukvinners religionsutøvelse i norsk diaspora /." Oslo : Institutt for orientalske språk og kulturstudier, Universitetet i Oslo, 2007. http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/IKOS/2007/65909/masteroppgave.pdf.
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Mitchell, Kathryn E. "Foreign Terrorist Organizations: The Correlation Between Group Identity and Becoming Transnational." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1366131538.
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Govender, Krishnaswami Rajee. "The religious practice of Purattasi as a means to social identity formation in South Africa." Thesis, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6425.
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The Indian diaspora has now more than ever before exported the inhabitants of the sub-continent to very many countries in the world. They are presently to be found settled in far-off places like Alaska, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, the Unites States of America, England, Canada and elsewhere. By far the largest group that had emigrated under the tri-partite patronage of South Africa, India and Britain between 1860 and 1911 to South Africa were a mixture of Hindus, Christians and Muslims representing the four major Indian language groups of Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Gujarati. The indentured, in no small measure, played a significant part in drastically uplifting the economy of Natal as efficient and hardworking labourers in the sugarcane farms, the coalfields of Northern Natal and in the wattle farms of the mist belt of the Midlands of Natal. No doubt in some cases their working conditions were extremely trying and painfully difficult; but they triumphed. They were not willing to remain in their immigrant servitude. After their contract, as is now, patently well known that in about 140 years they have reached against all odds. They are world recognized in nearly all fields where human endeavour calls for the best. They have produced renounced academics and artisans and are visible wherever excellence is the benchmark. After 1994 they have integrated with ease within the South African plural society without abandoning their language, culture, traditions, belief systems, dietary habits and the distinct dress of the women in particular and the men in general. Undoubtedly their inborn patience and tolerance and the ability to change and adapt within a multi-religious and multi-ethical milieu is a humble credit to their forbearance.Thesis (M. A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.
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Ayyathurai, Gajendran. "Foundations of Anti-caste Consciousness: Pandit Iyothee Thass, Tamil Buddhism, and the Marginalized in South India." Thesis, 2011. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8MS3SHX.
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This dissertation is about an anti-caste movement among Dalits (the oppressed as untouchable) in South India, the Parayar. Since the late 19th century, members of this caste, and a few others from Tamil-speaking areas, have been choosing to convert to Buddhism based on conscience and conviction. This phenomenon of religious conversion-social transformation is this study's focus. By combining archival research of Parayar's writings among Tamil Buddhists, as these Parayar, settled in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, are called, I have attempted to understand this movement ethno-historically. In pre-colonial times, though the sub-continent's societies were hierarchical, the hierarchies were fluid and varied: i.e., the high-low or self-other dichotomies were neither fixed nor based on a single principle. The most significant effect of the encounter of British Colonialism and India was to precipitate an unprecedented master-dichotomy of singular and absolute form of self and other, as colonizer and the colonized. This had three consequences. (a) India was itself seen as singular and served as the Self to the colonial Other in an absolute dichotomy; (b) the role of essentializing the Indian Self was assumed by the brahmin; (c) this in turn resulted in an internal dichotomy between the brahmin-essential self and the non-brahmin-non-essential other. The means chosen to fix this dichotomy was to nominate the non-essential other's paradigmatic representation, the Dalit. I intend to read against the grain of the binary logic that was inaugurated at the moment of the colonial encounter by means of Tamil Buddhists' oppositional, reconstructional, and representationaldiscursive practices.
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Lutchmanan, Jayalutchmee. "Oral transmission of the knowledge of the popular folk deities and their worship amongst Tamils in Durban." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6178.
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Thayanithy, Maithili. "The Concept of Living Liberation in the Tirumantiram." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/24384.
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This dissertation examines the concept of living liberation in the Tirumantiram, a work recognised as one of the Tamil Saiva canonical texts composed around the ninth century. Modern scholarship has thus far attempted to comprehend the Tirumantiram in terms of the post-Tirumantiram traditions that developed after the thirteenth century: Tamil Saiva Siddhànta and Tamil Siddha. Consequently, the unity and coherence of the text are subjected to question, and the dual literary and cultural roots of the Tirumantiram remain largely uninvestigated. Besides, the significance of the Tirumantiram as one of the earliest vernacular works directly dealing with the question of soteriology for Tamil speaking populace, most of whom are not qualified for liberation and preceptorhood according to the Saivàgamas with which the text identifies itself, is not fully recognised. This dissertation argues that the concept of living liberation constitutes the unifying theme of the Tirumantiram, which is an outcome of the synthesis of Tamil and Sanskrit traditions, and demonstrates that the Tirumantiram-which does not apparently promote the ideology of temple cult around which the Tamil bhakti movement and Saivàgamas of Southern Saivism developed–exemplifies an alternative religious vision centred on the human body. This dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter examines the Tamil legacy to the concept of living liberation. The second examines the ambiguous relations between the Sanskrit traditions and the Tirumantiram. How the Tamil and Sanskrit traditions are fused together to produce a unique version of yoga, the means to attain living liberation, is the concern of the third chapter. The final chapter establishes through an analysis of sexual symbolism expressed in connotative language that the Tirumantiratm is an esoteric text. Thus, the Tirumantiram reflects the blending of an esoteric tantric sect with the leading mainstream bhakti religion, probably to win approval of and recognition in the Tamil Saiva community during the medieval period.
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Kanni, Balasubramanian. "A descriptive visual analysis of the survival of Tamil arranged marriage rituals and the impact of commercialism." Diss., 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/22075.
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This research A Descriptive Visual Analysis of the Survival of Tamil Arranged Marriage Rituals and the Impact of Commercialism is a critical analysis of ritual performances as a key component of Tamil wedding ceremonies. These rituals are performed before, during, and after the wedding and are interrogated throughout in this dissertation. This research explored and attempted to identify the significance of ritual performances in Tamil people’s marriages of southern India. Through the documentation and unpacking of traditional Hindu wedding celebrations, this study examined how these ancient rituals have been influenced by the modern world. It explored how cultural beliefs are negatively impacted through the commercialisation of wedding ceremonies and how they justify the maintenance of ritual practice. Symbolic activities and ritual performances are studied and discussed throughout this study by observing various Tamil wedding ceremonies and conclusions are drawn through conversations with couples and parents who have participated in such events. The dissertation further explores the ways in which these rituals are ultimately reflected and represented in artistic practice, inspired by the works of various artists who engage with their mediums in a ritualistic manner.Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology
M.VA (Art, History, Visual Arts and Musicology)
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Archary, Kogielam Keerthi. "The transmission of oral tradition in religious and domestic contexts among South African Tamil Indians." Thesis, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6281.
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This study attempts to discuss the transmission of oral tradition in religious and domestic contexts among the Indian Tamil Hindu people of South Africa.
In chapter one, the focus of this study, as well as some reasons for choosing the Tamil group are discussed. The focus of this essay is to highlight the transmission of oral tradition in communities that have been physically separated from the original homes of those particular communities. Thereafter, in chapter two, examples of surviving domestic rituals are analysed. Life cycle rituals and calendrical rituals that are
performed in the home are discussed with examples. Examples of
surviving public rituals are considered in chapter three. An account of the rituals that are performed in the temple [either calendrical or of a personal nature] is given. In chapter four Tamil Hindu mythology which has survived in this country is given consideration. Lord Siva, in particular, is discussed to a greater extent. An overview of how some of the tradition has survived concludes this essay.Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban. 1993.
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Holden, Madeline L. G. "House of gold: the politics of faith, accessibility and diplomacy in navigating Islamic microfinance (Baitul Maal wat Tamwil) in Surakarta, Indonesia." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7194.
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This research investigates how Islam is informing capitalism in Indonesia through an analysis of the Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT) model of Islamic microfinance and how it operates as a local variant of the global phenomenon of microfinance. Using an ethnographic case study of BMT Solo, in Colomadu, Surakarta, Indonesia, this thesis examines the relationship value between Indonesia’s historical religious tensions and the influence of this form and practice of Islamic microfinance in Indonesia. This is a qualitative study for which original data was collected through field work conducted from August to November 2013. Qualitative methods and narratives were employed to ensure that the voices and stories of the participants, as they see the issues from their perspective, are heard. Field observations, event analysis and data from 14 semi-structured interviews reveal that: while global conventional microfinance aims to eradicate poverty by providing the poor with access to credit, BMT Solo does not issue loans to the poor but rather works to combat poverty through the baitul maal function. As the data demonstrate, the way in which BMT Solo administers their baitul maal function results in the exclusion of the poor non-Muslim community in Colomadu reinforcing already delicate religious tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Indonesia. The data also elucidate the three main reasons for which founders, managers, staff and customers became involved with BMT Solo. One pattern that can be identified from the analysis, is that generally, with a few exceptions, founders and managers were motivated by reasons of faith while staff primarily by reasons of accessibility and customers by both reasons of accessibility and diplomacy. Diplomatic reasoning refers to community diplomacy and the elements of social pressure and conformity which are often associated with maintaining peaceful and harmonious relations. The reasons of diplomacy bring new insights into how the few non-Muslim BMT Solo customers are using Islamic microfinance to diplomatically co-exist in a majority Muslim community and to manage delicate religious tensions to mitigate potential difficulties.Graduate
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mlholden@uvic.ca