Catholicism in South asia

This panel explores Catholicism’s ritual borderlands in South Asia. Each paper offers an ethnographic exploration of fluid scenes of exchange. In 18th century Goa, convent theater offers a view of the interplay among two distinct traditions of puppetry performed by nuns.  Pilgrimage to the site of the Tamil saint, Vailankanni Arockia Mata, reveals a scene of ritual diversity.  Catholic wedding ceremonies in contemporary Mumbai bring us into intimate moments of ritual that mark and contest religious boundaries with the institutional Catholic Church and the Indian state.

The Catholic Studies Business Meeting will follow in the same room a little after 6pm.