Monarch’s Pride and Migrating God: Altering Divine Identity in Śrīvaiṣṇava Hagiography

I examine the hagiographic narrative of Tirumaḻicai Āḻvār (c. 7th century CE) of the South Indian Śrivaiṣṇava tradition. Following the diktat of the monarch banishing a saint for refusing to sing the king's praise, the saint requests the deity in the temple to leave the town. The deity leaves the kingdom. The embodied image of god leaves his shrine along with the saint. The narrative is re-enacted annually as a ritual, tracing the steps of the divine retinue and carving out a sacred geography. Introducing a broader phenomenon of what I call Dramatized Hagiography, or the re-actualization of a hagiographic narrative through temple liturgy, I analyze what it means for God to be embodied in a divine image and undergo human-like experiences. In the words of Robert Orsi, how to include figures of special powers as agents in history and actors of consequence in a historical person’s lives and experiences? How do we understand intersubjectivity between textual traditions, history, religious practice, and religious experience? What broader questions can be posed to the festival genre of Dramatized Hagiographies?

Zoom Link