"Gods in Exile." On the consequences of Loss, Relocation and Founding of religious Establishments in the Narmada Valley.

• Applicant: Dr. Jürgen Neuß
• Subject Area: Asian Studies
• Term: from 2012 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 228249145

The basic objective of the proposed research project is the investigation of the impact of large-scale environmental changes caused by large infrastructure projects on traditional religious beliefs, practices and cults and the resulting change of common religious views and values, exemplified by the large dams on the river Narmada in Central India. The principal subject of investigation are the circumstances and effects of the loss, relocation and founding of religious establishments accompanying the construction of large dams and the contradictions and conflicts which arise out of the requirements and aspirations of a modern industrial society versus the traditions of a still strongly religious culture. The project seeks to find answers to the questions how such conflicts are solved in India and how religion and religious life in India change in the current process of modernization.On the Narmada river, which is the fifth largest Indian stream, a number of large dams have been constructed during the last two decades, which have inundated an area of about 2000 sq.km. The river Narmada is considered one of the holiest of India and has been worshipped as a goddess since ancient times. A fundamental part and expression of this veneration is the rite of the Narmadaparikrama, which represents a pilgrimage comprising a complete circumambulation of the river on a prescribed pilgrimage path. Prior to the construction of the dams this path led for about 2600 km from one holy place to the next but extensive stretches of it have now been submerged too, along with the religious establishments along the wayside. This rite is based on canonical Sanskrit texts, which connected the individual holy places through legends, traditions and rites thereby establishing a ritual-religious unity of the Narmada valley. Thus a vast, rural and in many parts hardly accessible region of the approximate size of South Korea is declared as a whole, which is culturally characterized by a long standing contact between indigenous peoples and different hindu groups which settled in the valley in the course of several centuries. This region is now subject to unprecedented fundamental changes.The Narmada presently offers a singular opportunity for such an investigation, because there are, on the one hand, a high number of places which are directly affected by the dams and on the other hand, because the memory of the people affected with regard to relevant events in the Narmada valley is still fresh. Hence a comprehensive investigation of relevant phenomena and events is possible only in these years, which will show in which way grave changes in the environment affect and alter religious traditions and how the relevance of religious traditions for the society are reinterpreted and made compliant with the requirements of a globalized market economy

• DFG Programme: Research Grants