Seva as a prayer practice; Krishna worship in the Pushtimarg

My proposed research project, Seva as practice; Krishna worship in the Pushtimarg, aims to apply my PhD research in scholarly articles and in visual anthropology. My first aim is to disseminate my research findings on three main themes; 1) the usefulness of prayer as a cross-cultural analytic, 2) on seva (service) as a devotional way to form divine kinship and, 3) on playful worship. These three key themes will be explored further throughout this fellowship to show how everyday religious life for my interlocutors is filled with wonder and divine play. The Pushtimarg (Path of Grace) is a bhakti (devotional) movement that has been marginal in the global religious landscape until recently. Starting in the 1990s, gurus began to travel outside of India to meeting the devotee diaspora and host events to discuss religious life. My thesis and subsequent research comes at a time when the movement is increasing its own visibility, at a moment that is both filled with tension and innovation. Researchers on the religious lives of Hindus often seek to use the idea of ritual to describe worship. In my fieldwork, I found that many were hesitant to use ritual as devotion to them was 'like' ritual but not quite as mechanical as they found ritual. One scholarly hesitation to use prayer as an analytic is its association with Christianity. My work does not shy away from this but acknowledges the Christian roots of the word prayer without suggesting what is happening for my interlocutors is Christian. Rather I seek to explore other forms of practice apart from ritual. This is to illustrate the relationship that builds between the divine child Krishna and his devotees. My work has been mostly situated in the domestic space. Previous studies of the Pushtimarg and other popular religions have discussed temple-based worship. Despite the Pushtimarg movements reputation as orthodox and rigid in their rules around worship, my fieldwork showed how individuals' worship in creative and emotional ways in the home, that do not always follow any set rules or guidelines. This unique perspective in my thesis shows a richness of daily religious experience that is based on spontaneous devotion and love. In my findings, the diversity in relationship-building between divine child and devotee was similar to the various ways to parent a human child. In my first article I will focus on the idea of seva (service) as it has been discussed in scholarly literature so far, seeking to show how seva as devotion has been sidelined. My second article will be about the experiences of playful religious life. I will look at play through the relationships between human mother and divine child Krishna.Through the workshop on prayer in Hindu thought, I seek to test out my initial theory that prayer can be acknowledged as part of Christianity but can be applied cross-culturally to describe a devotional practice that is centred around relationships and playful worship. During my fieldwork I was able to film parts of Pushtimarg worship life. By attending the short film course and working with my existing network to produce a film, I will be able to explore visual anthropology and include it as a method and a way to showcase research in an innovative way to a wider audience. The research I have done showcases the diversity in Hindu worship, that has often been subsumed in an idea of universal Hinduism. Hinduism as a social construct consists of many practices and Hindus have many ways of worshipping. My work highlights the need to address and research these diversities. Overall the fellowship would provide me with the chance to consolidate my thesis findings and seek to extend my research in collaboration with attendees from the workshop. The film course and producing a short ethnographic film would extend my research capabilities, setting me up for new methodologies and medias to showcase future findings.