The term “subaltern” signals a condition of subordination and marginalization in relation to an elite power structure; subalternity is contingent upon power disparities that manifest at both local and structural levels. The papers in this panel collectively examine the role of *bhakti* (devotion) in various subaltern contexts, where subordination occurs along the axes of caste, class, linguistic privilege, or gender. The panel elucidates the multifaceted nature of *bhakti* as it operates within marginalized communities across diverse socio-cultural milieus and historical periods. Presentations span from thirteenth-century Karnataka and fourteenth-century Maharashtra to nineteenth-century Kerala and contemporary Gujarat and Bengal. The panel primarily examines *bhakti* as a mode of participation wherein practitioners engage with and build relationships with gods. The panel addresses two broad questions: How does *bhakti* shape a practitioner’s navigation of subaltern marginalization, and conversely, how does subaltern marginalization reshape *bhakti*?
This presentation seeks to examine the social attitudes of the Śiva Bhakti tradition, known today as Vīraśaivism and Liṅgāyatism, in the Kannada-speaking region. The tradition’s positions toward marginalized groups in society, here referred to using the term “subaltern,” remain highly contested and undetermined, spanning from accusations of elitism that mirrors conservative Brahminism to social activism that rejects the legitimacy of the same assumed elitism (among the communities and in relation to the general society). The roots of this conundrum can be found in the Ragaḷe stories written by Harihara only a few decades after their deaths, in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuries. Referring to stories from a forthcoming publication of translations from corpus, the presenter will portray a complicated social picture in which one can find both stark rejections of conservative attitudes and excluding practices toward subaltern groups as well as support for religious elitism and exclusion.
Indian religious traditions are multidimensional and multi-layered. Though the Sanskrit texts often try to make Brahminical hegemony sacrosanct, some voices from the margins challenge exclusivity. Vernacular medieval *bhakti* poetry has provided a literary platform for the subalterns to articulate their grievances, express spiritual musings, and assert themselves. Cokhāmelā and his family belonged to an untouchable caste in 14th-century Maharashtra, and their poetry records the discrimination and humiliation they faced. They are assertive about their identity as devotees of Viṭṭhala, the God at Phandarpur, as Cokhāmelā proudly says that he may be of lower caste, but his devotion is not in any way inferior. Given the socio-cultural situation of the medieval period, he could not free himself from the psychological fetters of the tradition altogether and found consolation in internalizing the doctrine of *karma*, which he believed to be responsible for his degraded position.
This paper explores devotional expressions in Stōtṛakṛitikal, a collection of devotional hymns composed by Mahākavi Kumāran Āśān (1873-1924), a member of a low caste in Kerala. These poems demonstrate *bhakti* imagined and expressed from a subaltern perspective. His *bhakti* implied union with the deity and “completeness.” The imagination of “completeness” for individuals concerned Āśān because he understood the “incompleteness” that lower caste people experienced through the practice of unapproachability and untouchability in Kerala during his time. This paper discusses the dynamics of devotion in some of Āśān’s devotional poems and argues how these poems embody love and surrendering to the deity and a sense of becoming “complete.” Though Āśān’s Stōtṛakṛitikal embodies the same motifs as those composed by upper-caste *bhakti* poets, it contributes to *bhakti* discourse, attesting that *bhakti* includes the voices of those on the margins of society, making the divine palpable, in Kerala.
As a half-male and half-female figure, Ardhanārīśvara has garnered significant academic attention. There is ample scholarship on its iconography, its place within poetry and mythological narratives, and its relationship to philosophical thought. However, content concerning the figure in living contexts is largely omitted. In this connection, academic works have hypothesized, theorized, and/or passingly referenced links between Ardhanārīśvara and peoples affiliated with “third gender” categorization but done little to investigate these purported connections further. To address these lacunas and shortcomings, I analyze Ardhanārīśvara within the devotional lives of related populations; this includes examining its incorporation into Durgā Pūjā festivities by gender and sexuality rights activists and its place within the Kinnar Akhāḍā, a “transgender religious order.” Accordingly, I demonstrate that Ardhanārīśvara is framed as having vindicating ties to tradition while also being innovatively advanced in the pursuit of upward social mobility by those aiming to rectify their marginalization.
This presentation makes an intervention in the study of *bhakti* (devotion) from the perspective of the Adivasis, the indigenous communities of India also classified as the “Scheduled Tribes.” This examination focuses on the study of the religious songs of the Bhils, i.e., the Adivasi communities of the Sabarkantha district of north Gujarat. Using archival and ethnographic data, this paper argues for the recognition of Adivasi tribal religions as a site for uncovering subaltern modes of *bhakti*. The paper includes the first-ever English translations of religious songs found in Bhili, an Adivasi language spoken in the hilly borderlands of Gujarat. The author presents a sample of four *bhajans* (devotional songs) sung by the Bhils in various ritual contexts, two of which were gathered during the author's ethnographic fieldwork spanning ten months over three visits and two others collected by Bhagwandas Patel, a scholar of Gujarati and Bhil literature at the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad.
Barbara A. Holdrege | holdrege@religion.ucsb… | View |