<p>What is it about India and Varanasi, this holy city on the bank of the Ganga that has made me return, again and again? It is definitely not the freezing cold temperatures during mid-winter, nor is it the dry heat at spring, or the wet and humid months of the monsoon. It also has nothing to do with the bottomless poverty – the beggars halfeaten by leprosy pushing what once was an arm through the open window of my cab. It is not the constant power failures, the dirt, the touts, the diarrhoea, or the souvenirs. What is it then? For ten years I’ve been asking myself this question without yet having come to know the answer. ‘Mother India’, I have realised, raises more questions than she provides answers, and it could simply be that it is this infinite roundabout of questions begging for answers that makes some of us return – over and over again.</p><p>India is a continent of paradoxes and contradictions – desperate poverty and immense wealth, purity and impurity, caste and class, heat and cold, monsoon and drought, mosques and temples, ahimsa and violence, secularism and fanaticism, sacred cows and holy men. Enigmatic customs and practices, raise an apparently never-ending line of questions with either no answers or a multitude of them.</p><p>In the pages to follow, I will try to shed light on one of the cultural and religious traditions that I find fascinating in this country of contrasts. What I have in mind is the practice of renunciation, a life-style adopted by men and women of all ages. These holy figures, dressed in saffron (some also in white, red or black), have left the material world behind in order to devote their thoughts and actions – their beings – to matters of a higher spiritual nature and, in this way, to prepare themselves to leave their bodies. They have left behind the world of domestic demands, obligations and dependency and entered what is often described as a state of peace (santi) and eternalhappiness.</p>

What is it about India and Varanasi, this holy city on the bank of the Ganga that has made me return, again and again? It is definitely not the freezing cold temperatures during mid-winter, nor is it the dry heat at spring, or the wet and humid months of the monsoon. It also has nothing to do with the bottomless poverty – the beggars halfeaten by leprosy pushing what once was an arm through the open window of my cab. It is not the constant power failures, the dirt, the touts, the diarrhoea, or the souvenirs. What is it then? For ten years I’ve been asking myself this question without yet having come to know the answer. ‘Mother India’, I have realised, raises more questions than she provides answers, and it could simply be that it is this infinite roundabout of questions begging for answers that makes some of us return – over and over again. India is a continent of paradoxes and contradictions – desperate poverty and immense wealth, purity and impurity, caste and class, heat and cold, monsoon and drought, mosques and temples, ahimsa and violence, secularism and fanaticism, sacred cows and holy men. Enigmatic customs and practices, raise an apparently never-ending line of questions with either no answers or a multitude of them. In the pages to follow, I will try to shed light on one of the cultural and religious traditions that I find fascinating in this country of contrasts. What I have in mind is the practice of renunciation, a life-style adopted by men and women of all ages. These holy figures, dressed in saffron (some also in white, red or black), have left the material world behind in order to devote their thoughts and actions – their beings – to matters of a higher spiritual nature and, in this way, to prepare themselves to leave their bodies. They have left behind the world of domestic demands, obligations and dependency and entered what is often described as a state of peace (santi) and eternalhappiness.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 346-355). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

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Christians are a small minority group in India. There are previous studies on the group, but mainly focused on regions where Christianity is well represented, like for example Tamil Nadu in South India. This study will focus on an uncharted Christian area. The city of Banaras in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh is one of the most prominent holy cities of Hinduism. But there are also Christian congregations. Some are more established, some are less. This study is an attempt to map the Christian population in Banaras and present material that could be used for future research. The material is analysed with theories of space, which reveals several spaces that are claimed by Christianity. The Christian community in Banaras is composed of many different congregations, showing different features of local particularities worthy of further studies. In the city, Protestant congregations are scattered in smaller fractions while the Catholic parish shows a more well-established organization. Looking closer at two Catholic churches, a case-study focus on ground-level local particularities of the Catholic Church in the city. Together with theories on Theology of religions and Indian religious practice the case study provides a glimpse of the local expression of Catholic church interior and practice. The results describe a church shaped by the general, Catholic organization, the history of Christianity and Catholicism in India, together with the local context, shapes a well-established parish in a predominantly Hindu city. Together with the wider overview on Christianity, the results provide an image of Christianity in Banaras that shows several interesting characteristics in spatial claims and establishment. This could be an addition to future research to an understanding of interreligious relations and minority religions on a local level in a world shaped by globalization.

<p>India is a syncretistic country where several religions coexist. Amystical branch of Islam, ufism, brings Hindus and Muslims togetherwhen the devotees from both religions worship the same saints andmeet at the same sacred places. The purpose of this essay is to researchif, or to what extent, a mazar is a meeting place of cultures, as well asexplore mysticism within religion. A special focus is aimed at YakubShahid Mazar in Banaras where an interview study was conductedduring the autumn of 2009. This essay will also show similarities inreligious views and how Hindus and Muslims interact in themulticultural city of Banaras.</p><p>Results show that the mazar is a meeting place of multi-culture and thatpeople from varying backgrounds meet there. They come for a varietyof reasons, mostly for wishing or praying,</p> / <p>Indien är ett synkretiskt land där flera religioner samexisterar. Enmystisk gren av Islam, ufism, sammanför hinduer och muslimer näranhängare från båda religioner ber till samma helgon och möts påsamma heliga platser. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om,och i så fall i vilken utsträckning, en mazar är en multikulturellmötesplats, samt att utforska religiös mysticism. Ett särskilt fokus liggerpå Yakub Shahid Mazar i Banaras där en intervjustudie utfördes underhösten 2009. Den här uppsatsen kommer också att visa likheter ireligiösa uppfattningar och visa hur hinduer och muslimer interagerar iden multikulturella staden Banaras.</p><p>Resultaten visar att mazaren är en multikulturell mötesplats och attmänniskor från varierande bakgrund möts där. De kommer dit för enmängd olika orsaker, mestadels för att önska eller be om något, ochhelgonets historia är inte besökarnas första prioritet.</p>

India is a syncretistic country where several religions coexist. Amystical branch of Islam, ufism, brings Hindus and Muslims togetherwhen the devotees from both religions worship the same saints andmeet at the same sacred places. The purpose of this essay is to researchif, or to what extent, a mazar is a meeting place of cultures, as well asexplore mysticism within religion. A special focus is aimed at YakubShahid Mazar in Banaras where an interview study was conductedduring the autumn of 2009. This essay will also show similarities inreligious views and how Hindus and Muslims interact in themulticultural city of Banaras. Results show that the mazar is a meeting place of multi-culture and thatpeople from varying backgrounds meet there. They come for a varietyof reasons, mostly for wishing or praying, / Indien är ett synkretiskt land där flera religioner samexisterar. Enmystisk gren av Islam, ufism, sammanför hinduer och muslimer näranhängare från båda religioner ber till samma helgon och möts påsamma heliga platser. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om,och i så fall i vilken utsträckning, en mazar är en multikulturellmötesplats, samt att utforska religiös mysticism. Ett särskilt fokus liggerpå Yakub Shahid Mazar i Banaras där en intervjustudie utfördes underhösten 2009. Den här uppsatsen kommer också att visa likheter ireligiösa uppfattningar och visa hur hinduer och muslimer interagerar iden multikulturella staden Banaras. Resultaten visar att mazaren är en multikulturell mötesplats och attmänniskor från varierande bakgrund möts där. De kommer dit för enmängd olika orsaker, mestadels för att önska eller be om något, ochhelgonets historia är inte besökarnas första prioritet.

This study focuses on multiculture from a teacher's point of view. Five teachers, all working in a governmental school in Banaras were interviewed about their thoughts on multiculture and how they act in the classroom. The question formulations are the following: How do the teachers in a governmental school in Banaras approach and work with the religious diversity that exists in the classroom? In what ways are the teachers in a governmental school in Banaras observing and working with the students’ different culture? What are the thoughts about teaching and school situations with students from different socioeconomic backgrounds among teachers who work in a governmental school in Banaras? The theory in this study is an intercultural perspective which we used by using multicultural learning, culture and language. The conclusion is that the teachers are working in a inclusive way in a diverse school in Banaras, India.

In this study I explore two understudied aspects of India's informal economy, viz. the institutions that sustain informal knowledge, and gender disparities among self-employed workers using a combination of primary survey and interview methods as well as econometric estimation. The data used in the study come from the Indian National Sample Survey (NSS) as well as from fieldwork conducted in the city of Banaras (Varanasi) in North India. The vast majority of the Indian work-force is "uneducated" from a conventional point of view. Even when they have received some schooling, formal education rarely prepares individuals for employment. Rather, various forms of apprenticeships and on-the-job training are the dominant modes of knowledge acquisition. The institutions that enable creation and transfer of knowledge in the informal economy are poorly understood because informal knowledge itself is understudied. However, the rise of the so-called "Knowledge Society" has created a large literature on traditional and indigenous knowledge and has brought some visibility to the informal knowledge pos- sessed by peasants, artisans, and other workers in the informal economy. The present study extends this strand of research. In Chapter Two, taking the weaving indus- try as a case-study, work is introduced into the study of knowledge. Thus informal knowledge is studied in the context of the production relations that create and sustain it. Further, the family mode of production and apprenticeships are foregrounded as important institutions that achieve inter-generational transfer of knowledge at a low cost. Clustering of weaving firms ensures fast dissemination of new fabric designs and patterns which holds down monopoly rents. In Chapter Three taking advan- tage of a recently issued Geographical Indication (GI), an intellectual property right (IPR) that attempts to standardize the Banaras Sari to protect its niche in the face of powerloom-made imitation products, I investigate the likely effects of such an at- tempt to create craft authenticity. Through field observations and via interviews with weavers, merchants, State officials and NGO workers, I find that the criteria of authenticity have largely been developed without consulting artisans and as a result tend to be overly restrictive. In contrast, I find that weavers themselves have a more dynamic and fluid notion of authenticity. Homeworking women are widely perceived to be among the most vulnerable and exploited groups of workers. Piece-rates and undocumented hours of work hide ex- tremely low hourly wages and workers themselves are often invisible. Though women form a crucial part of the Banaras textile industry, to the outside observer they are invisible, both because they are in purdah and because women's work proceeds in the shadow of weaving itself, which is a male occupation. In Chapter Four, using field observations, interviews, and time-use analysis I show that women perform paid work for up to eight hours a day but are still seen as working in their spare time. Because the opportunity cost of spare time is zero, any wage above zero is deemed an improvement. Hourly wage rates in Banaras are found to be as low as eight to ten cents an hour, well below the legal minimum wage. In Chapter Five, I use Na- tional Sample Survey data on the informal textile industry to test the hypothesis that emerges from ethnographic work in Banaras. If women are indeed penalized for un- dertaking joint production of market and non-market goods, women working on their own without hired workers are expected to perform much worse than men working by themselves. I find that after accounting for differences in education, assets, working hours, occupation and other relevant variables, women working by themselves earn 52% less than their male counterparts. This gender penalty disappears in case of self- employed women who can afford to employ wage-workers. I also show that women in the informal economy are more likely to be engaged in putting-out or subcontracting arrangements and suffer a gender penalty as a result.

The purpose of this master thesis in history was to examine the use of history of an Indian queen, the Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. The Rani Lakshmi Bai was born in Banaras and married a king – the Raja of Jhansi. The Rani Lakshmi Bai fought against the British during the first war of independence year 1857-58. Recently, a memorial has been built at her supposed birthplace in Banaras, more than 150 years after her death. This development has raised several questions about the use of history of the Rani Lakshmi Bai. How has the use of history of Rani Lakshmi Bai changed? Why has it become relevant to build a statue of the Rani now and not before? The purpose of this study has been answered with the help of oral history and text analysis. Firstly, this has been done, by examining the knowledge of people from Banaras and Jhansi as well as through their perceived image of the Rani Lakshmi Bai. Twenty people from Banaras and four people from Jhansi have been interviewed. Secondly, the institutional level information has been examined which is presented in educational textbooks and newspapers like the local newspaper Aaj and the national newspapers The Hindu as well as The Times of India. The results show that the level of historical knowledge about the Rani is low, though the love and affection for her are great. The use of history of the Rani Lakshmi Bai has been as a freedom fighter, a role model in different contexts and a symbol, as well as an inspirational source of women empowerment. There is also a political use of the Rani. All these uses of history in combination with the increased economic interest in the neighbourhood of Assi in the city of Banaras made it relevant and possible to build a monument of the Rani Lakshmi Bai in present time.