This study examines the construction of the sacred in a
person, Maryamma of Vadiyakkadu, and the symbolic resources which
constitute her identity as a Marian seer in India. It examines how
sacred selfhood has been personally and socially initiated,
constructed, challenged, reconstructed, dramatized and revalued.
The origins of the symbolic resources and transitions involved in
these processes are the presence of a nearby major Marian
pilgrimage shrine, the existential circumstances of the seer
herself, internal dynamics among the variety of adherents who have
formed a cult following around her, and external pressures which
have come to bear on her and on her disciples.
The study shows how the symbol of the Virgin Mary is used by
Tamil Catholics and how it acconunodates and is assimilated by nonCatholics.
Called Amma, or Mother, the Virgin Mary is at the heart
of Maryamma's cult. She is the source of healing and the context
for meaning in cult members' lives. Speaking in Tamil, the Virgin
displays distinctively Indian characteristics and many of her
devotees are non-Christians. Amma has chastised Roman Catholic
Church authorities in her messages, and although the Church has
inderdicted the sacraments at the cult's shrine, its priests
continue to celebrate them.
There is a thinly veiled claim to the identity of Maryamma
with Amma herself in the recounting of her miracles, and this
identification is only the hub around which are connected more
profound theological claims concerning privileged intimations of
the premillenial Second Coming of Christ.
Maryamma's personal visionary charisma, her imaginative
rendering and interpretation of miracles, and the theologically
astute correctives of a popular Jesuit and other priests, have generated a symbolic resource at Vadiyakkadu which promises to
pose a continuing challenge to the authority of the Roman Catholic
Church in India. [Arokkiya Mada, caste, charismatic, Christian,
Coromandel, ethnography, field work, goddess, Hindu, Kaveri, Our
Lady, possession, subaltern, syncretism, Tanjavur (Tanjore),
thaumaturgy, Velanganni] / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/15759 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | MacPhail, Richard Donald |
| Contributors | Younger, DR. Paul, Kinsley, Dr. David, Badone, Ellen E.F., Religious Studies |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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