The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York : Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple

The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York is a profile of a flourishing Hindu temple in the town of Rush, New York. The temple, established by a charismatic nonbrahman Sri Lankan Tamil known as Aiya, stands out for its combination of orthodox ritual meticulousness and socioreligious iconoclasm. The vitality with which devotees participate in ritual themselves and their ready access to the deities contrasts sharply with ritual activities at most North American Hindu temples, where (following the usual Indian custom) ritual is performed only by priests and access to the highly sanctified divine images is closely guarded. Drawing on several years of fieldwork, Dempsey weaves traditional South Asian tales, temple miracle accounts, and devotional testimonials into an analysis of the distinctive dynamics of diaspora Hinduism. She explores the ways in which the goddess, the guru, and temple members reside at cultural and religious intersections, noting how distinctions between miraculous and mundane, convention and non-convention, and domestic and foreign are more often intertwined and interdependent than in tidy opposition. This lively and accessible work is a unique and important contribution to diaspora Hindu Studies. This book is a portrayal of a flourishing Hindu temple in the town of Rush, New York, dedicated to the great south Indian goddess Rājarājeśwarī. Guided by an exuberant Sri Lankan guru known as Aiya, temple practitioners embrace yet definitively break with tradition. Known for its ritual precision and extravagance, the temple and its guru defy convention by training and encouraging non-brahmans and women to publicly perform priestly roles, and by teaching the secrets of Śrīvidyā, a highly exclusive Tantric tradition. Weaving together traditional South Asian tales, temple miracle accounts, and devotional testimonials, the book is organized into three parts reflecting various intersecting worldviews, traditions, and landscapes with which temple practices and participants contend. The book’s first part explores the temple’s emphasis on ritual performance and potency, and the resulting collisions between miraculous and mundane worldviews as experienced and understood by Aiya, temple participants, and the ethnographer-author. Part two explores how Aiya and his students deftly balance convention with non-convention, breaking rules of orthodoxy that make room for leadership and learning, and providing possibilities otherwise unavailable in traditional temple settings. Part three explores the diaspora condition as experienced within the Rush temple context. It chronicles the joys and challenges of negotiating domestic and foreign traditions, and the effects this has on human and divine participants, temple rituals, and the temple terrain itself. In sum, the book argues that in a setting where science illuminates the sacred, where traditional religious practices allow for breaking with the same, and where foreign terrain becomes home turf, the Goddess not only lives, she thrives Corinne Dempsey Profiles An Unusual South Indian Temple Community In Rush, New York, Outside Rochester. The Temple, Established By A Charismatic Non-brahman Sri Lankan Tamil, Stands Out For Its Combination Of Orthodox Ritual Meticulousness And Socioreligious Iconoclasm. The Vitality With Which Devotees Participate In Ritual Themselves And Their Ready Access To The Deities Contrasts Sharply With Ritual Activities At Most North American Hindu Temples, Where (following The Usual Indian Custom) Ritual Is Performed Only By Priests And Access To The Highly Sanctified Divine Images Is Closely Guarded. Drawing On Several Years Of Contact With The Guru And His Followers, Dempsey Uses The Rush Temple's Surprising Success To Analyze The Distinctive Dynamics Of Diaspora Hinduism, Including Issues Of Gender And Caste, Ethnic Community, And Spiritual Enthusiasm. Introduction : A Temple Trip 3 -- Pt. I Encounters With Divinity : Ritual Power And Miracles -- Temple Entryways -- Perspectives On Ritual Power : The Cost, Science, And Grace Of Divinity -- Visions And Versions Of The Miraculous -- Pt. Ii The Work Of A Guru : Bridge Building And Boundary Breaking -- Maverick Guru With A Cause -- The Changing Faces Of Temple Worship : The Young, The Women, And The Rest -- A Fine Balance : The Give And Take Of Religious Discipline -- Pt. Iii Temple Inhabitants : Making Home In A World Of Impermanence -- Grounding The Sacred : Traveling Deities And Sanctified Terrain -- Expanding Turf For Racial And Religious Others -- Making Home At The Sri Rajarajeswari Pitham -- Conclusion : A Good Place To Start 209. Corinne G. Dempsey. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [245]-254) And Index. Frontmatter Note on Transliteration (page xiii) Introduction: A Temple Trip (page 3) PART I Encounters with Divinity: Ritual Power and Miracles 1. Temple Entryways (page 15) 2. Perspectives on Ritual Power: The Cost, Science, and Grace of Divinity (page 33) 3. Visions and Versions of the Miraculous (page 57) PART II The Work of a Guru: Bridge Building and Boundary Breaking 4. Maverick Guru with a Cause (page 83) 5. The Changing Faces of Temple Worship: The Young, the Women, and the Rest (page 105) 6. A Fine Balance: The Give and Take of Religious Discipline (page 129) PART III Temple Inhabitants: Making Home in a World of Impermanence 7. Grounding the Sacred: Traveling Deities and Sanctified Terrain (page 149) 8. Expanding Turf for Racial and Religious Others (page 169) 9. Making Home at the Śrī Rājarājeśwarī Pīṭham (page 191) Conclusion: A Good Place to Start (page 209) Glossary (page 215) Notes (page 221) Bibliography (page 245) Index (page 255) This profile of an unusual South Indian temple community in Rush, New York, describes how the temple combines orthodox rituals and socioreligious iconoclasm. The author uses the temple's surprising success to analyse the distinctive dynamics of Hinduism, including issues of gender, caste and community