'Weasternization' of the West
Kumbh Mela as a Pilgrimage Place For Spiritual Seekers from the West
Keywords:
Pilgrimage, Western spiritual seekers, Easternization, HinduismAbstract
This paper will, with reference to fieldwork carried out during the Kumbh Mel? 2013, the big pilgrimage among Hindus in India, discuss the impact that the East is having on the West. Cambell has termed this process for: ’The Easternization of the West’ (2007)when Eastern notion s and world views is becoming a part of the West but in a new and changed form. This process of reinterpretation or translation is also the case, when it comes to the understanding of and participation in the Kumbh Mel?; especially in relation to understanding the snaan or holy dip in the water on the most auspicious days at Kumbh Mel?. This paper will give examples of how this is interpreted or translated in such a way that it suits the Western oriented spiritual seeker or pilgrim in his or her spiritual auto biographical patchwork, constructed by the Western oriented mind.
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