Overseas Temples and Tamil Migratory Space

Temples have been places of major importance for Tamil societies for more than fifteen centuries. Following the migration of Tamilians from South India, the perpetuation overseas of their tradition as temple builders and the creation of a Tamil diaspora, they can now be found on the five continents....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSouth Asia multidisciplinary academic journal Vol. 6; no. 6
Main Author Trouillet, Pierre-Yves
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Association pour la recherche sur l'Asie du Sud (ARAS) 28.12.2012
Association pour la recherche sur l'Asie du Sud
Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
Subjects
diaspora
Geography
haut lieu
Humanities and Social Sciences
Mauritius
migratory space
Montreal
Political science
Religions
Social Anthropology and ethnology
Tamil
Sri Lanka
temples
diaspora
Tamil Nadu
Hinduism
haut lieu
migratory space
Mauritius
Montreal
Tamil
hinduism
temple
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Summary:Temples have been places of major importance for Tamil societies for more than fifteen centuries. Following the migration of Tamilians from South India, the perpetuation overseas of their tradition as temple builders and the creation of a Tamil diaspora, they can now be found on the five continents. They are indicative of the exportation of Tamil Hinduism on a global scale and prompt us to ponder the relationships linking these overseas temples and the Tamil migratory space. This paper examines the identity issues as well as the spatial meanings and transnational connections related to the making of such places. The study of some of these temples in Canada and Mauritius helps to determine how Tamil temples have become major centres of transnational social spaces and to document the geographical features of the building of ‘hauts lieux’ by migrant communities in host countries.
ISSN:1960-6060
1960-6060
DOI:10.4000/samaj.3415