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Accepted Paper:

Toilets, Temples and Holymen: the politics of place in Banaras, India  
Assa Doron (The Australian National University)

Paper short abstract:

Drawing on recent debates in anthropology and geography surrounding the relationship between place, power and identity, the paper examines a recent controversy over the construction of a toilet cum temple on one of Banaras’ most sacred public places.

Paper long abstract:

The sacred city of Banaras is well-known as the city of temples. Still, it was surprising to find a public toilet which also functioned as a temple, with the caretaker said to be a powerful tantric. During my fieldwork in Banaras, the toilet-baba (holyman), as he was known, became increasingly controversial as he began to expand his territory, turning the public latrine into a small "empire". I use the term "empire" to denote not only the number of assistants and devotees he had under his jurisdiction and guidance, but also the considerable spatial expansion of the toilet space on one of city's most sacred and frequented ghats (landing steps into the river) - Assi ghat.

This paper examines the controversy that has accompanied the development of this public latrine and the complex dynamics that were revealed in what eventually turned out to a very violent contestation of ghat space, involving government officials, local boatmen and priests. The ultimate disgrace of the toilet-baba and razing of the toilet - cum temple - constitutes the climax of this story.

Using this case study I attempt to address wider concerns pertaining to the relationship between place, identity and power. Following Escobar (2001), I argue for the need to consider how 'culture sits in places', and examine the complex ways in which people continuously negotiate, redefine and assert their identities through everyday experiences, practices and perceptions of place.

Panel P24
Claiming space: the new social landscapes of South Asia
  Session 1