Another Avatar of Hindu Nationalism: Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari

Lecture by Prof.dr. Pralay Kanungo, jointly organized by LIAS, AMT & IIAS

Hindu Nationalism/Hindutva has multiple incarnations and manifestations. For its ideological and political expansion it has floated a large number of  organisations, either pan-Indian or regional/local; each organisation is carefully floated keeping specific context, issue and target group in perspective.  While some of them could be strident and violent, others may appear to be soft and silent. In this lecture, I would deal with a Hindutva-sponsored organisation, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari by highlighting the following themes: First, Hindutva’s connection with Swami Vivekananda(1863-1902) and the context in which the Kendra was floated; secondly, the strategy Hindutva adopted in the making of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial as a Hindu Nationalist site in Tamil Nadu successfully overcoming resistance and contestations; and finally, how Vivekanada Kendra is quietly disseminating the ideology of Hindu nationalism among the marginalised ‘indigenous’ communities of Arunachal Pradesh by focussing on education, social welfare and protection of ‘culture’. Though Vivekananda Kendra clearly remains a fraternal Hindutva organisation, the very departure from Hindutva’s usual pedagogy of indoctrination, makes it appear to be different.

The speaker

Prof.dr. Pralay Kanungo is currently the ICCR Chair for the Study of Contemporary India at IIAS / LIAS. Before coming to Leiden he was Professor and Chair, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and Visiting Professor  at Maison des Sciences De L'Homme, Paris. Kanungo is the author of RSS's Tryst with Politics: From Hedgewar to Sudarshan (2002) and co-edited The Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva (2011), Public Hinduisms (2012) and Politics of Ethnicity in India, Nepal and China (forthcoming 2013). He is the Principal Indian collaborator of India-Europe research Networking Project on Electoral Changes in Urban and Rural India.

A reception will follow afterwards at the cafe of Huizinga building