Inclusivism and its contingencies: following temple-goers in Kanpur

Abstract

What can a mobile fieldwork contribute to the study of inter-religious connections? This chapter examines the state of Hindu inclusivism in Modi’s India by means of an anthropological fieldwork that involved considerable movement. Rather than following the common practice of approaching inclusivism in shared religious spaces, it follows protagonists of a Kali temple, including a Brahman priest, across the cityscape to examine which non-Hindu festivals they attended and which non-Hindu ritual spaces they approached. As a rule, they often frequented Sikh spaces but ignored churches and mosques. Occasionally they also approached Sufi-Muslim grave shrines but typically only in times of deep distress or when in need of specialised ritual advice, both of which required discretion. The ethnographic section exemplifies this pattern by contrasting their participation in the Nagarkirtan procession of the Sikhs with their avoidance of the Muharram procession of the Shias and exemplifies some of the religious spaces visited by a Brahman priest attempting to expand his knowledge as a tantrik ritual specialist. Here, the chapter also shows how inclusivist practices can unfold into uncanny moments that spell danger, thus infusing them with contingency.