Alike but different: the understanding of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark

Abstract

This article will discuss the meaning(s) of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark with special focus on the second generation. It will use Roy A. Rappaport's theory on ritual both as communication and as a basic social act, but it will also, in line with Jan Assmann and Hervieu Legér, understand the ritual as a storing place of collective memory. It will give a short outline of what can be called the institutionalisation but also the place-making of the Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu tradition in Denmark, but the empirical focus will be on the chariot procession (Tēr), which attracts thousands of participants every year. The Tēr procession is an example of continuity and change. Continuity because the participants try to reproduce the ritual as they know it from Sri Lanka, however changed so it fits into or communicates with the new setting.

What Are Religious Hotspots? An Introduction

“…This combination is intended to encompass all kinds of travel to religious sites that in some ways are motivated by religion (Blackwell 2007: 35).5 This is also the case with religious hotspots. They simultaneously attract visitors from different religions or spiritual communities, spiritual seekers, and tourists who want to experience a place that is understood as hot (Fibiger 2017). In other words, they are all attracted by the presumed hotness of the place.…”