Inimkond Series: Ülo Valk

At the next "Inimkond" seminar, Prof. Ulo Valk will be lecturing on "Dreams, Miracles and Institutional Authority: Narratives of the Contested Birth Place of Saint Mādhavadeva in Assam"

The cultural identity of the Assamese people, who have dominated the region of Assam in North East India, is closely connected with the neo-vaishnava saint and writer Shankaradeva (1449-1568) who initiated the bhakti movement, challenged the caste system and Tantric goddess worship. His most famous disciple was saint Mādhavadeva (1489-1596), the author of the popular devotional song book (Nam-ghosh).

Shankaradeva’s birth place in Ali-Pukhuri near Bordowa has become a major pilgrimage centre; however, there is no exact historical evidence about Mādhavadeva’s childhood home. In ancient sources the place has vaguely been identified as Letekupukhuri near the town of Nārāyanpur. Soon after India gained independence in 1947, claims were made by local people in Nārāyanpur area that they have discovered the birth place of Mādhavadeva, as it had been revealed to them through dreams and other miraculous evidence. This happened a few decades after the Assamese followers of neo-vaishnava movement had again settled in the region that had been abandoned in wars and covered by forests.

As a consequence of these revelations two competing shrines emerged at the distance of one kilometre from each other, both known as the historical birth places of Mādhavadeva. The two centres are run by different neo-vaishnava institutions whose doctrines and rituals contradict each other. The lecture discusses vernacular and institutional strategies of the adherents of the two shrines in making arguments of faith. It is based on fieldwork, conducted in the area between 2009 and 2015.