The Spell of the Cult and the Rites of the Republic: The Shows of the Spectacle State under Hindutva

How does Hindutva turn festivals into spectacles of power? Drawing on his book Spectacle State, Brahma Prakash argues that this ritualisation of both tradition and secular values empties them out, allowing the state to prioritise ceremony over real socio-political questions.

The talk will focus on the various ways Hindutva has been reorganizing traditional rituals and festivals as well as sacralizing the secular values of the republic, for example turning the Constitution into a ceremonial object and citizens into a divine citizen. On the one hand, it draws from the Kumbh mela to the Kawariya procession to examine Hindutva’s entrenchment and orchestration of traditional festivals. On the other hand, it tends to ritualise the secular values of the republic. It argues that how a spectacle state in the very act of engagement turns into an act of disengagement and emptying out the values. By doing this Hindutva state prioritises ceremony and symbolic discourses and gets away with the real socio-political questions. The talk analyses the spell and other fascinating sites of Hindutva that make it more pervasive, drawing from the author, Brahma Prakash, recent book, Spectacle State: How Hindutva Shapes Feeling and Culture.