The Temple Road Towards a Great India: Birla Mandirs as a Strategy for Reconstructing Nation and Tradition

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About The Book

This book presents an analysis of the foundations organised by the Birla family in India. Several generations were involved in the renovation and establishment of sanctuaries, temples and other sacral buildings. As a result, between 1933 and 1998, nineteen Birla Mandirs were established, mainly in northern and central India. All the temples have the capacity to surprise with their various decorative motifs, not seen in other places, which - apart from their aesthetic function-above all bear important symbolic content. Therefore, is it possible to treat the Birla Mandirs as a specific medium-the carrier of a particular message that is not only religious, but with a significance that permeates other layers of social and political discourse. This message, as the authors of the book claim, have a bearing on the socio-political thought of India- supported by the creation and propagation of ideas related to identity and a national art. It also conveys the idea of hierarchical Hindu inclusivism which, although considering all religions as equal, treats Hinduism in a unique way-seeing within it the most perfect form of religion, giving man the opportunity to learn the highest truth. The book also examines whether the temples founded by the Birla family and the religious activities undertaken therein apply the concept of "inventing" tradition, and whether traditions created (or "modernised") in contemporary times are a way of enhancing the appeal of the message conveyed from temple to society.

About the Author

Prof. Marta Kudelska is the Chair of the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Her research interests include Indian philosophy and Sanskrit literature.

Prof. Dorota Kamińska-Jones is a lecturer in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. She is also lecturer of Indology at the University of Warsaw: Her research interests include the art and culture of India and Great Britain, above all from the period of the Empire, feminism, colonialism and intercultural relations; she is particularly concerned with issues related to womanhood.

Dr. Agnieszka Staszczyk is an assistant professor in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Her research concerns the art of the Indian sub- continent-especially early iconography, the origin and cultural function of religious representations, and the architecture of modern temples.

Dr. Agata Świerzowska is an assistant professor in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Her field of interest covers the theory of religion and contemporary changes in religion and spirituality seen from an inter-cultural perspective.

Introduction

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF RESEARCH

This book presents the preliminary results of research carried out within a project entitled "Birla Mandir-modern Hindu temple complexes as an example of modernization by going back to tradition" supported by the National Science Center, Poland within the "Opus 5" program [number UMO-2013/09/B/HS1/02005]. The research work in- cluded temples founded from the 1930s onwards by the Birla family. colloquially referred to as the "Birla Mandirs"? The main goal of the research was to collect as wide a selection of documentation about the temples as possible and to conduct a preliminary analysis in order to establish some of the most important issues. First of all, is it possible to treat the BMs as a specific medium-the carrier of a particular message (a kind of narrative) that is not only religious, but with a significance that permeates other layers of social and political discourse? Secondly does-and if so, to what extent-this message have a bearing on the socio-political thought of India and was this supported by the creation and propagation of ideas related to identity and a national art. It was also important to indicate the structure of the narrative, identify the basic strategies and means of communication and reconstruct its fundamental meaning. It was also relevant to investigate whether and how the temples founded by the Birla family represent hierarchical Hindu inclusivism which, although it considers all religions as equal, treats Hinduism in a unique way-seeing within it the most perfect form of religion, giving man the opportunity to learn the highest truth. It was also interesting to examine whether the temples established by the Birla family and the religious activities undertaken in them apply Eric Hobsbawm's concept of "inventing" tradition," and whether traditions created (or "modernized") in contemporary times are becoming a way to increasing the attractiveness of the message that flows from temple to society.

Three research trips were conducted as part of the project: a) the first (February/March 2014) included the following temples: Shri Lakshmi Narayan (Delhi), Shri Lakshmi Narayan (Patna, Bihar). Krishna/Gita Mandir (Kurukshetra, Haryana), Saraswati/Sharda Peeth (Pilani, Rajasthan), New Vishwanath (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh), Shri Radha Krishna (Kolkata, West Bengal). Renukeshwar Mahadev Mandir (Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh).

Book's Contents and Sample Pages