The bargaining of a sacred place: relocation of a Hindu temple in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Drawing on Asef Bayat’s ‘art of presence,’ this paper analyses how Malaysian Indian Hindus reinvent the Tirtha – a sacred location identified for building a Hindu temple – and make it liminal. I contend that the reinvention is a quiet encroachment strategy for Indian Hindus to safeguard community temples against urban development. I base my argument on empirical data gathered from in-depth interviews and ethnographic approaches. I anchor my argument on a case study concerning a demolished and relocated Hindu temple in Penang. I additionally demonstrate how the liminality of a Hindu temple is rationalised and made plausible with rituals for relocation, namely the Balathanam ceremony.

KEYWORDS:

• The art of presence
• quiet encroachment
• rituals
• Hindu temple
• diasporic Hindus
• Malaysia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For further reading of the HINDRAF-led rally see: Thaatchaayini Kananatu (2018) The Politico-Legal Mobilisation of Ethnic Indians before Malaysia’s 2018 Election, The Round Table: Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 107:6, 703-716, DOI: 10.1080/00358533.2018.1545938; and Thaatchaayini Kananatu (2020), Minorities, rights and the law in Malaysia, London: Routledge.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Faculty Research Grant [Grant number 209400] and Memorial Scholarship William Wallace Gibson.

Notes on contributors

Sue Ann Teo

Teo Sue Ann obtained a PhD in Religious Studies. She is currently a researcher working on localisation of the sustainable development goals in Malaysia. The work involves mapping the social, economic and environment issues by using qualitative methods with grassroots communities throughout Malaysia. A contribution of the research findings is policy advocacy.