Abstract

MELLO, Marcelo Moura. Filling murtis: art, aesthetic, and knowledge in an Hindu temple of the goddess Kali in Guyana. Etnográfica [online]. 2020, vol.24, n.2, pp.427-451. ISSN 0873-6561.  https://doi.org/10/4000/etnográfica/8978.

The article deals with a set of practices, ritual procedures, and “attentions” involved with the construction, adorning, and consecration of religious images in an Hindu temple of the goddess Kali in Guyana (former British Guiana), more specifically with those directed to the murtis, that is, sculptured images of Hindu deities. Through the description of the acts involved with the construction of murtis, the article seeks to understand how knowledges, innovations, aesthetic perceptions are (re)created. It’s suggested that murtis produce effects that are embodied in bodies and in the lives of devotees, beyond temple and altars.

Keywords : Kali worship in Guyana; Hinduism; murtis; art.

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