Nimala Sivakumar ‘27

Summer 2025

From Bhakthi to Balaji: A Comparative Study of Tamil Folk Tradition in Madurai

This summer, Nimala will travel to Madurai, a city in the south of India known for its Madurai Meenakshi Temple, in order to further explore the diversity of Hindu religious tradition in a non-Northern Indian setting. Dominant narratives on Hinduism center around sanitized practices that take place in larger, more centralized bodies of power, such as Brahminical traditions of vegetarianism or lack of animal sacrifice. Nimala chose Madurai for its location in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Often nicknamed "the land of temples," a study in Tamil Nadu allows for many opportunities to travel to a variety of folk-associated temples such as Pandi Koyil for the purpose of a comparative study of different folk traditions and how they vary as one travels from the center of the city to the borders of it. This project will result in a written paper drawing on written works of scholars such as Wendy Doniger and Anna Slacza, comparing these traditions to Northern Indian Brahminical interpretations of Hindu texts and traditions.