Uphill Visions. Redirecting Pilgrimage in Mid-20th to Early-21st Century Tamil Jainism

A Jain anti-animal sacrifice activist stumbling over an overgrown ancient sacred site and kick- starting a whole new genre of travel writing. A remote hilltop rock temple dedicated to Āṭinātar-Ṛṣabha turning into the central pilgrimage site for the Jains of the Tamil-speaking region. An anti-mining protest event sparking the creation of ecologically inspired walks across the Jain landscape of the hills surrounding Madurai. This talk will take these three moments in the history of the Jain community of the Tamil-speaking region to reflect on visions for the reclaiming of spaces that help re-create a Jain landscape out of a scenario of marginalisation, destruction, and endangerment. The remembered, imagined, and projected voyage up the mountain will confront both larger historical practices of Jain pilgrimage and concrete cases of reconfiguration in a period crucial for the transformation of the diverse communities practising Jainism in contemporary Tamil Nadu.