Abstract:

This article focuses on the sacred week-long story-telling event known as a Bhāgavat-saptāh. The saptāh centres on narratives of the deity Viṣṇu and, in particular, his manifestation as Kṛṣṇa, and on Kṛṣṇa’s devoted lover Rādhā. These stories are preserved in their most authoritative form in the Sanskrit text of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa. First I will examine the traditional instructions for holding a saptāh, which I will call the ‘archetype’. I will then describe a saptāh which took place at Vrindavan, Uttarpradesh, India, in November 2009. I will then compare the archetype with the case study, identifying six major continuities: the central role of the text, temporal aspects, economic considerations, visual preparation, spatial arrangements and social inclusiveness. I also identify two major divergences: the sectarian content and the use of the vernacular. Finally, I seek to explain both in terms of modernizing processes. Continuity and divergence are found to take place both in spite of, and because of, such processes.

Author: McComas Taylor