2019/03/04 by Hugh B. Urban · 21 citations
Social Sciences · #Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research #Religious Tourism and Spaces #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Tantra #Hinduism #Tourism #Symbol (formal) #Nationalism #Context (archaeology) #Ancient history #Power (physics) #History #Geography #Art #Archaeology #Religious studies #Political science #Literature #Law #Philosophy #Politics
paper · doi:10.1080/00856401.2019.1570609
published in South Asia Journal of South Asian Studies 42(2), 256-277 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2019/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article examines the modern transformations of the temple of the goddess, Kāmākhyā, and her most important festival, Ambuvācī Melā, in Assam. Since at least the eighth century, Kāmākhyā has been revered as one of the most important ‘seats of power’ or centres of the goddess that dot the landscape of South Asia. However, during the last century, this temple and its festivals have undergone a series of profound transformations—first, in the context of Hindu nationalism and attempts to imagine a unified sacred landscape of ‘Mother India’, and second, in the context of spiritual tourism and efforts to develop the Northeast region as a new economic powerhouse for the twenty-first century.