Collections in Hindu domestic shrines
By Rina Arya
Hinduism is not a congregational religion. Whilst Hindus do visit temples in order to ‘see’ deities during festivals and other occasions, the most prevalent form of worship is done at home in front of a domestic shrine. This setting should not be regarded as of lesser status or importance to official temple worship. Arguably, it is more critical to the practice of popular Hinduism worldwide, a notion that needs to be reinforced (Mazumdar and Mazumdar 2003). This makes the shrine more informative about ideas core to Hindu ritual practice, chiefly the immanence of the divine in everyday life and the fluid relationship between the sacred and the profane (see Jain 2007; and Sahney 2017). Indeed, Hindus often refer to their shrine as a mandir (‘temple’), which itself indicates the status it holds.
The idea of the shrine spans different religious beliefs and is a structure or place that is dedicated to, or commemorates, a deity or something sacred. Hindu domestic shrines tend not to describe a specific physical space or a pre-existing structure, like a receptacle, into which sacred objects are placed, but refer instead to the collection of heterogeneous objects itself. The shrine becomes the designated space where these objects are placed.
The non-doctrinal nature of Hinduism coupled with the diversity of its traditions prevent simple generalisations about the contents of the objects within household shrines. Typically, two categories of objects are found: representations of deities and/or holy or reverential figures, and the accoutrements of religious ritual, which are considered part of the collection of sacred objects and when not in use are stored in a drawer or something similar. The first category is comprised of murtis, which are representations of deities in concrete form such as an anthropomorphic statue, a natural form such as a stone, or a revered person, such as a guru (Johnson 2009, 210). It is not uncommon to have more than one murti of the same deity. In addition, other representations of revered figures are included that personalise the collection. These include photographs of ancestors, particularly those of late parents and grandparents, which are often framed behind glass. The collection is fluid in the sense that it can be added to, less often subtracted, and except for the objects of which it is comprised that are regarded as sacred, there is not necessarily any further theological coherence. Their sacred status is conveyed in the ways in which they have been treated, that is, the ways they have been displayed and adorned.
In the Indian subcontinent, larger homes often have an inbuilt mandap (covered structure with pillars) in which to place the collection. The situation is different in the Hindu diaspora where migrants have had to improvise, opting instead to have their shrines in cupboards, on shelves or in standalone rooms (Sahney 2017, 493-507). There are certain requirements that have to be met and apply whether space provisions are extensive or not. The shrine can be placed in the centre of the home but it needs to be physically and spiritually bounded. Ritual acts, such as placing the objects on a sacred cloth and partitioning the space prevent them from being contaminated by surrounding everyday polluting objects. Some households prefer greater privacy for their shrine, preferring it to be kept away from the mundane, which reinforces the meaning of ‘the sacred’ – to set apart.
A closer look at the shrine helps develop understanding of the structures and processes of worship, relays information about the religious/spiritual affiliations and identity of the individual/family, and collectively conveys the sheer diversity of Hinduism(s). The makeshift nature of some shrines should not be interpreted as indicating a less serious attitude to worship or veneration. Looking more closely at individual shrines involves constructing a profile of the traditions followed, itself conveyed, however loosely, by the selection of representation of deities. Deities can be classified into the more popularly worshipped Hindu deities that transcend regionality and are widely worshipped throughout India. These include Ganesh, Shiva, and Krishna, and the goddess Lakshmi. Lesser known deities, including avatars, that are more regionally specific within India or the subcontinent are also featured. Examples include the Sindhi deity, Jhulelal. Representations of deities are usually iconographic in that they resemble a figurative, often human, form, and have big eyes, to increase the power of darshan, the mutual gaze (see Eck 1998), which is discussed shortly. Fewer murtis are aniconic, in their non-figurative resemblance. The Shiva Lingam (a symbol of Shiva representing his generative power) is possibly one of the most popular examples seen in domestic shrines.
The process of the accretion of objects in the collection takes different forms and includes the purchasing, gifting or inheritance of deities, and other paraphernalia such as garlands, plinths etc. These objects originate from different time periods. Hindu migrants still tend to bring murtis and other religious items from their home countries in the subcontinent, even though they are now available in a global market. The reasons for this are not unimportant and can imply a preconceived notion about India, or their country of origin in South Asia, as being construed as the spiritual centre to the diaspora-margin (see Vertovec, 2000). There is also variety in the materials, sizes and styles of the objects. Commonly used materials include wood, marble, metal, plastic and stone. The diversity of representations of deities and other figures in domestic shrines conveys in part the sheer number of traditions within Hinduism and hence the number of interpretations.
Objects added to collections are acquired from pilgrimages to various holy sites and include photos and other mementos. Instances when objects from the collection are removed are few and typically occur at the end of specific festivals, notably Ganesh Chaturthi. This festival celebrates Ganesh’s birthday and is often marked by the worship of Ganesh murtis. In India, especially in the state of Maharashtra, Ganesh is led on a palanquin through the streets in a procession and devotees come out just to seek darshan, to see and be seen by the murti. The end of the ten days is marked by the ceremony of visarjan, the ritual immersion of the murti in a body of water.
A discussion of the collection is incomplete without considering the rituals of worship because it is through ritualised multisensory actions that objects become animated (Elgood 1999, 29). The accoutrements consist of items used in worship and include agarbatti (incense sticks), divas (fire lamps), flower garlands, dresses for the deities, religious texts and bells. It is important to remember that Hinduism is often described and understood through its ritual and practice rather than through doctrine, and the fundamentals of ritual are seen at the shrine (Michaels 2016, 2). Rituals of worship vary from the simple, where the individual folds their hands in prayer, chants mantras, and lights agarbattis, to more elaborate rituals involving waking the deities during prayers (puja), bathing them in water or milk, dressing them, adorning them with garlands, singing hymns (bhajans), and offering food (prasad) [1]. These rituals, all conducted at eye level, are multisensory and encompass the objects and the elements in their execution. Worship involves more than the visual modality. The murtis and photographs of revered figures are meant to be handled. They are picked up, bathed, dressed, garlanded, and gazed at in a mode of reciprocal looking known as darshan [2]. They are showered with flower petals and the centre of their forehead is marked with various powders and paste, what is known as tilak. The leaves of holy books are marked too with tilak, grains of rice and flower petals.
Hindus may favour particular deities, what are described as ishtadeva, and these deities are preeminent in their prayers, focus, and even possibly in their representation in the collection, in number or prominence. Other deities become the focus on particular days of worship, festivals and rites of passage. The god Hanuman is worshipped on Tuesdays, for example, which means that he may get special attention on that day, which may include performing other rituals including the keeping of various fasts (vratas). During the festival of Diwali, the goddess Lakshmi is the centre of ritual practice. During a rite of passage, such as the birth of a new baby in the family or marriage, Ganesh might take centre stage because he is regarded as the remover of obstacles. This variation in worship depending on time and occasion may – but does not always – involve the structural reconfiguration of the collection.
The focus of this piece thus far has been on the household or domestic shrine. It is also common to have shrines in other places in India and parts of the subcontinent. Shrines can be seen in hospitals, offices, auto-rickshaws and other public places, and convey the living presence of deities within everyday life. In the Hindu diaspora mini-shrines, more fully a small collection of deities, are seen in the cars of devotees. This may take the form of garlanded murtis with a few stickers. The rationale here is to keep the driver safe from harm.
There is a qualitative difference between the types of religious object in a household shrine and those located in an official public temple, a point worth exploring further, because it explains the differences in curatorship and management of Hindu religious objects. In the former, objects may be sacred and venerated but they are not consecrated for public worship. The process of consecration requires that objects undergo a series of ritual actions that often begin before they are even constructed. The objects in a household shrine undergo rituals of purification including being bathed and adorned, rituals that are required before it is deemed auspicious for them to be worshipped within the house. The devotees too have to undergo rituals before they undertake worship, such as washing and donning clean clothes, removing shoes and covering the head. Within temple worship however, what we might want to call ‘official’ Hindu worship, more elaborate rituals need to be adhered to. The construction of temples and deities, and the subsequent installation of deities is subject to guidelines set down in Shilpa Shastras that work on the assumption that the sacred needs to be protected from the mundane. This means that the architects and craftspeople ensure that the process of construction of buildings and statues is done auspiciously, a concept of integral importance to Hinduism. The priest then ensures that the rituals ‘breathe’ life into the deities and render them appropriate for installation and that worship follows the principles set down in the shastras.
Another significant difference between domestic shrines and official temples involves management. The priest, who is a Brahmin male, presides over the consecration of worship within official Hinduism. The situation is quite different in the domestic order, where it is usually the women of the household who exercise spiritual leadership and lead worship and ritual within the family (see Bose, 2010).
Notes
[1] The shrine also functions as an altar in its function as it is where offerings are made to deities.
[2] Darshan has been described as a form of touch because of the effect it has on the worshipper.
The following photographs show some examples of Hindu domestic shrines. All photos are supplied by the author.
References
Bose, Mandakranta. 2010. Women in the Hindu Tradition: Rules, Roles and Exceptions. Abingdon: Routledge.
Eck, Diana. 1998. Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. (3rd ed.) New York: Columbia University Press.
Elgood, Heather. 1999. Hinduism and the Religious Arts. London: Cassell.
Jain, Kajri. 2007. Gods in the Bazaar: The Economies of Indian Calendar Art. Durham: Duke University Press.
Johnson, Eric J. 2009. Oxford Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mazumdar, Shampa and Sanjoy Mazumdar. 2003. ‘Creating the Sacred: Altars in the Hindu American Home’. In Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America, ed. Iwamura, Jane Naomi and Paul Spickard, 143-158.
Michaels, Axel. 2016. Homo Ritualis: Hindu Ritual and Its Significance for Ritual Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sahney, Puja. 2017. Pavitra Hindu homes: producing sacred purity in domestic diasporic settings. South Asian History and Culture. 8.4, 493-507.
Vertovec, Steven. 2000. The Hindu Diaspora: Comparative Patterns. London: Routledge.
Rina Arya is Professor of Visual Culture and Theory at the University of Huddersfield. She has written extensively on the artist Francis Bacon, abjection and the relationship between spirituality and the visual arts. She is currently writing a monograph on the cultural appropriation of Hindu symbols.
