Books by Leah Comeau
Material Devotion in a South Indian Poetic World, 2020
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/material-devotion-in-a-south-indian-poetic-world-9781350122895/
Material Devotion in a South Indian Poetic World, 2020
Click to listen: https://newbooksnetwork.com/material-devotion-in-a-south-indian-poetic-world
Papers by Leah Comeau
Material Religion, 2022
In this article, I present a material-centered analysis of a Tamil
Christian song titled Tiruchab... more In this article, I present a material-centered analysis of a Tamil
Christian song titled Tiruchabai Tarattu, which was composed in
1813 by Vedanayaka Sastriar. Through this focused case study, I
address the question of what is—or what ought to be—the
relationship between material and textual analysis in the
discipline of religious studies. Rather than positioning material
religion as a discrete approach to the study of religion, one that
is often contrasted with textual studies, I propose that textual
studies finds in material religion an invitation for significant
growth since texts are mediated through the material. I am
especially interested in sensory experiences and objects, the
mainstays of material analysis, as they are found embedded in
texts. By focusing on the sensuous and material elements
highlighted by the poet, a study otherwise focused within the
bounds of textual sources can pivot and expand to include
non-textual sources. My assembly, description, and analysis of
sources and experiences that span across media in and outside
of texts allows me to build what I call a sensory corpus by which
we understand the meaning—better, meanings—of South
Asian Christianity.
The Jugaad Project, 2020
LINK TO TEXT: https://www.thejugaadproject.pub/home/garlands-for-gods-in-southeast-india
Abstrac... more LINK TO TEXT: https://www.thejugaadproject.pub/home/garlands-for-gods-in-southeast-india
Abstract: This is a study of flowers and garlands in Tamil South India as they travel through temples and markets. While garlands are ubiquitous in South Indian Hindu temple décor and rituals, they are also grown, sold, and bought by a variety of communities with a wide range of religious, social, commercial, and aesthetic aims. In this snapshot of flower culture, I primarily focus on a few garlands that decorate the elephant-faced god Ganesha. Various threads of sensory engagements, including colors, fragrances, and the clamor of the market and festive temple grounds, all accumulate into a sense of community aesthetics and the sensational forms, as per Meyer and Verrips (2008), from which a devotee might draw to interpret and participate in forms of material religion.
Citation: Comeau, Leah. “Garlands for Gods in Southeast India.” The Jugaad Project, 7 Jun. 2020, thejugaadproject.pub/home/garlands-for-gods-in-southeast-india [date of access]
Guest-editor introduction to special issue:
This special issue “On and beyond the surface: South ... more Guest-editor introduction to special issue:
This special issue “On and beyond the surface: South Indian temple walls as text, object, and experience“ developed out of a panel that I organized at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, in 2016. Since that meeting, our group of panelists have been in continuous dialogue and are now delighted to present a collection of articles that propose fresh approaches to interpreting signs,
murals, and inscriptions that are ubiquitous in South Indian religious spaces.
In this article, I investigate the significance of contemporary Tamil temple signs that have been... more In this article, I investigate the significance of contemporary Tamil temple signs that have been laid, hung, and sometimes painted over earlier stone inscriptions. I am particularly interested in the following questions: What is the purpose of these old and new signs? And how does their existence contribute to the devotional program of a temple?
While signs appear everywhere within a temple complex and come in a wide variety of materials, I argue that their impact is not found at the level of an individual signboard. Instead, the significance of southeast Indian temple signs is found in the fullness of the walls and their non-linear refrains to events, values, communities, and scenes for the worship of the deity. To make this argument, I draw from affect theory, material studies, and especially concepts of accumulation and saturation.
In this article, the author proposes a feminist reading of medieval South Asian literature that a... more In this article, the author proposes a feminist reading of medieval South Asian literature that aims to dismantle a long held split-image view of Hindu “femininity.” With this reading, Comeau also presents stylized poetry as a viable historical source for the study of womanhood in South Asia. She analyzes excerpts from the ninth-century
devotional text, Tirukkōvaiyār, to address one intersection of religiosity and portrayals of women in the Tamil literary corpus. In addition to decentering the central character of the heroine, the author develops an inclusive feminist reading strategy that takes account of supporting female characters, such as servants, messengers, and
kin. The essay aims to disband the accepted, though disturbing and monolithic category of “the good Tamil woman.” In its place, Comeau offers an opportunity to acknowledge and promote the relative diversity of roles played by female characters in fictional verses.
The world of Tamil literature is full of kings, gods, and demons. Entire genres of poetry are ded... more The world of Tamil literature is full of kings, gods, and demons. Entire genres of poetry are dedicated to the art of praising these powerful figures, including one genre of poetry known as kovai. While the vast majority of kovai poems are dedicated to kings and gods associated with Vaishnava and Shaiva communities, this study examines a nineteenth-century kovai that takes the Prophet Muhammad as its heroic patron. I illustrate how the poet utilized a devotional model that was successful in Hindu contexts to present Muslim audiences with a literary tribute to Muhammad that is both aligned with Tamil bhakti aesthetics and in praise of the Prophet’s humanity and graciousness
toward devotees.
Rituals and Practices in World Religions: Cross-Cultural Scholarship to Inform Research and Clinical Contexts, 2020
Feminist Studies in Religion, 2019
Māṇikkavācakar (Manikkavacagar, Manikkavasagar, Manikkavachakar) is a Tamil poet-saint famous for... more Māṇikkavācakar (Manikkavacagar, Manikkavasagar, Manikkavachakar) is a Tamil poet-saint famous for his contributions to Śaiva devotional literature. He is also known by the name Tiruvātavūrār, which reflects the name of his hometown, Tiruvātavūr. Most scholars currently date Māṇikkavācakar and his poetry to the 9th century.
Book Reviews by Leah Comeau
International Journal of Hindu Studies , 2022
Book review
International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2019
Conference Posters by Leah Comeau
Research Poster Session. Cluster of Excellence: Understanding Written Artefacts, University of Ha... more Research Poster Session. Cluster of Excellence: Understanding Written Artefacts, University of Hamburg
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded in 1926. The central buildings of the Ashram are located in ... more The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded in 1926. The central buildings of the Ashram are located in Pondicherry, South India, just steps from the beach and next door to the Arulmiga Manakula Vinayagar Temple. In addition to housing the main offices of the Ashram, this central campus is where spiritual teacher and prolific writer Sri Aurobindo and his collaborator Mirra Alfassa, known as the Mother, lived for many years before their physical deaths in 1950 and 1973, respectively.
My analysis will focus on the leadership of the Mother, a spiritual guru in her own right, especially during her embodied presence at the Ashram after the bodily death of Sri Aurobindo and before her own. I will focus on the following guiding questions: How is authority passed through and between two spiritual collaborators? Can spiritual leadership be (or, how is it) exerted through the use of organic material? And, to what extent can spiritual teachings be extended, memorialized, or embodied in something as beautiful yet transient as a flower?
My presentation will explore both the embodied and non-embodied authority of the Mother (before and after her bodily death) as she established a culture of devotion through her flowers and at the side of the Samadhi. And, I will show that the contemporary life of the Samadhi and activities that take place in the courtyard today remain deeply tied to the Mother’s views of flowers, nature, and religion.
Presented at 48th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions; Lineage, Authority, & Schism
In this lecture, Dr. Comeau invokes recent developments in the field of material religion to enga... more In this lecture, Dr. Comeau invokes recent developments in the field of material religion to engage with long-revered devotional poetry in praise of the Hindu god Shiva. The lecture will be a celebration of the natural world, precious ornaments, and the human desire for closeness to god and each other.
The Catholic University of America is hosting a symposium on Eastern Christian Scrolls.
February... more The Catholic University of America is hosting a symposium on Eastern Christian Scrolls.
February 22, 2019
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
May Gallery, Mullen Library
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC
USA
PROGRAM
Framing the Question
9:00-9:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America) and Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America)
Scrolls for Liturgy
9:15-9:45 Nina Glibetic (University of Notre Dame), “Slavonic Liturgical Scrolls”
9:45-10:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America), “Greek Liturgical Scrolls”
Scrolls for Formal Use
10:15-10:45 George A. Kiraz (Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute), “Syriac Sustatiqon and Omologia”
10:45-11:00 Break
Scrolls for Healing
11:00-11:30 Robin Darling Young (The Catholic University of America), “Armenian Scrolls of Healing”
11:30-12:00 Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America), “Ethiopic Scrolls of Healing”
Reflection
12:00-12:15 Leah Comeau (University of the Sciences), “Theorizing Scrolls and Material Religion”
12:15-12:30 Group Discussion
Open to the public. Address inquires to Dr. Aaron Butts (buttsa@cua.edu)
Talks by Leah Comeau
In this open lecture, Dr. Comeau presents a material religion approach to the study of Hinduism i... more In this open lecture, Dr. Comeau presents a material religion approach to the study of Hinduism in South India that utilizes material objects and texts about objects. The first series of examples are excerpted from early medieval devotional poetry. Through these focused case studies, Comeau addresses potential relationships between material and textual analysis in the discipline of religious studies. The second part of the presentation is an introduction to new research based on historical and contemporary uses of flowers and floral motifs in South Asian religious practices. Following her lecture, Comeau will lead a discussion using objects and photographs from her current research project.
This interdisciplinary research engages with religious studies, anthropology, history, material culture, art history, Indology and Asian studies.
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Books by Leah Comeau
Papers by Leah Comeau
Christian song titled Tiruchabai Tarattu, which was composed in
1813 by Vedanayaka Sastriar. Through this focused case study, I
address the question of what is—or what ought to be—the
relationship between material and textual analysis in the
discipline of religious studies. Rather than positioning material
religion as a discrete approach to the study of religion, one that
is often contrasted with textual studies, I propose that textual
studies finds in material religion an invitation for significant
growth since texts are mediated through the material. I am
especially interested in sensory experiences and objects, the
mainstays of material analysis, as they are found embedded in
texts. By focusing on the sensuous and material elements
highlighted by the poet, a study otherwise focused within the
bounds of textual sources can pivot and expand to include
non-textual sources. My assembly, description, and analysis of
sources and experiences that span across media in and outside
of texts allows me to build what I call a sensory corpus by which
we understand the meaning—better, meanings—of South
Asian Christianity.
Abstract: This is a study of flowers and garlands in Tamil South India as they travel through temples and markets. While garlands are ubiquitous in South Indian Hindu temple décor and rituals, they are also grown, sold, and bought by a variety of communities with a wide range of religious, social, commercial, and aesthetic aims. In this snapshot of flower culture, I primarily focus on a few garlands that decorate the elephant-faced god Ganesha. Various threads of sensory engagements, including colors, fragrances, and the clamor of the market and festive temple grounds, all accumulate into a sense of community aesthetics and the sensational forms, as per Meyer and Verrips (2008), from which a devotee might draw to interpret and participate in forms of material religion.
Citation: Comeau, Leah. “Garlands for Gods in Southeast India.” The Jugaad Project, 7 Jun. 2020, thejugaadproject.pub/home/garlands-for-gods-in-southeast-india [date of access]
This special issue “On and beyond the surface: South Indian temple walls as text, object, and experience“ developed out of a panel that I organized at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, in 2016. Since that meeting, our group of panelists have been in continuous dialogue and are now delighted to present a collection of articles that propose fresh approaches to interpreting signs,
murals, and inscriptions that are ubiquitous in South Indian religious spaces.
While signs appear everywhere within a temple complex and come in a wide variety of materials, I argue that their impact is not found at the level of an individual signboard. Instead, the significance of southeast Indian temple signs is found in the fullness of the walls and their non-linear refrains to events, values, communities, and scenes for the worship of the deity. To make this argument, I draw from affect theory, material studies, and especially concepts of accumulation and saturation.
devotional text, Tirukkōvaiyār, to address one intersection of religiosity and portrayals of women in the Tamil literary corpus. In addition to decentering the central character of the heroine, the author develops an inclusive feminist reading strategy that takes account of supporting female characters, such as servants, messengers, and
kin. The essay aims to disband the accepted, though disturbing and monolithic category of “the good Tamil woman.” In its place, Comeau offers an opportunity to acknowledge and promote the relative diversity of roles played by female characters in fictional verses.
toward devotees.
Book Reviews by Leah Comeau
Conference Posters by Leah Comeau
My analysis will focus on the leadership of the Mother, a spiritual guru in her own right, especially during her embodied presence at the Ashram after the bodily death of Sri Aurobindo and before her own. I will focus on the following guiding questions: How is authority passed through and between two spiritual collaborators? Can spiritual leadership be (or, how is it) exerted through the use of organic material? And, to what extent can spiritual teachings be extended, memorialized, or embodied in something as beautiful yet transient as a flower?
My presentation will explore both the embodied and non-embodied authority of the Mother (before and after her bodily death) as she established a culture of devotion through her flowers and at the side of the Samadhi. And, I will show that the contemporary life of the Samadhi and activities that take place in the courtyard today remain deeply tied to the Mother’s views of flowers, nature, and religion.
Presented at 48th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions; Lineage, Authority, & Schism
February 22, 2019
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
May Gallery, Mullen Library
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC
USA
PROGRAM
Framing the Question
9:00-9:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America) and Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America)
Scrolls for Liturgy
9:15-9:45 Nina Glibetic (University of Notre Dame), “Slavonic Liturgical Scrolls”
9:45-10:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America), “Greek Liturgical Scrolls”
Scrolls for Formal Use
10:15-10:45 George A. Kiraz (Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute), “Syriac Sustatiqon and Omologia”
10:45-11:00 Break
Scrolls for Healing
11:00-11:30 Robin Darling Young (The Catholic University of America), “Armenian Scrolls of Healing”
11:30-12:00 Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America), “Ethiopic Scrolls of Healing”
Reflection
12:00-12:15 Leah Comeau (University of the Sciences), “Theorizing Scrolls and Material Religion”
12:15-12:30 Group Discussion
Open to the public. Address inquires to Dr. Aaron Butts (buttsa@cua.edu)
Talks by Leah Comeau
This interdisciplinary research engages with religious studies, anthropology, history, material culture, art history, Indology and Asian studies.
Christian song titled Tiruchabai Tarattu, which was composed in
1813 by Vedanayaka Sastriar. Through this focused case study, I
address the question of what is—or what ought to be—the
relationship between material and textual analysis in the
discipline of religious studies. Rather than positioning material
religion as a discrete approach to the study of religion, one that
is often contrasted with textual studies, I propose that textual
studies finds in material religion an invitation for significant
growth since texts are mediated through the material. I am
especially interested in sensory experiences and objects, the
mainstays of material analysis, as they are found embedded in
texts. By focusing on the sensuous and material elements
highlighted by the poet, a study otherwise focused within the
bounds of textual sources can pivot and expand to include
non-textual sources. My assembly, description, and analysis of
sources and experiences that span across media in and outside
of texts allows me to build what I call a sensory corpus by which
we understand the meaning—better, meanings—of South
Asian Christianity.
Abstract: This is a study of flowers and garlands in Tamil South India as they travel through temples and markets. While garlands are ubiquitous in South Indian Hindu temple décor and rituals, they are also grown, sold, and bought by a variety of communities with a wide range of religious, social, commercial, and aesthetic aims. In this snapshot of flower culture, I primarily focus on a few garlands that decorate the elephant-faced god Ganesha. Various threads of sensory engagements, including colors, fragrances, and the clamor of the market and festive temple grounds, all accumulate into a sense of community aesthetics and the sensational forms, as per Meyer and Verrips (2008), from which a devotee might draw to interpret and participate in forms of material religion.
Citation: Comeau, Leah. “Garlands for Gods in Southeast India.” The Jugaad Project, 7 Jun. 2020, thejugaadproject.pub/home/garlands-for-gods-in-southeast-india [date of access]
This special issue “On and beyond the surface: South Indian temple walls as text, object, and experience“ developed out of a panel that I organized at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, in 2016. Since that meeting, our group of panelists have been in continuous dialogue and are now delighted to present a collection of articles that propose fresh approaches to interpreting signs,
murals, and inscriptions that are ubiquitous in South Indian religious spaces.
While signs appear everywhere within a temple complex and come in a wide variety of materials, I argue that their impact is not found at the level of an individual signboard. Instead, the significance of southeast Indian temple signs is found in the fullness of the walls and their non-linear refrains to events, values, communities, and scenes for the worship of the deity. To make this argument, I draw from affect theory, material studies, and especially concepts of accumulation and saturation.
devotional text, Tirukkōvaiyār, to address one intersection of religiosity and portrayals of women in the Tamil literary corpus. In addition to decentering the central character of the heroine, the author develops an inclusive feminist reading strategy that takes account of supporting female characters, such as servants, messengers, and
kin. The essay aims to disband the accepted, though disturbing and monolithic category of “the good Tamil woman.” In its place, Comeau offers an opportunity to acknowledge and promote the relative diversity of roles played by female characters in fictional verses.
toward devotees.
My analysis will focus on the leadership of the Mother, a spiritual guru in her own right, especially during her embodied presence at the Ashram after the bodily death of Sri Aurobindo and before her own. I will focus on the following guiding questions: How is authority passed through and between two spiritual collaborators? Can spiritual leadership be (or, how is it) exerted through the use of organic material? And, to what extent can spiritual teachings be extended, memorialized, or embodied in something as beautiful yet transient as a flower?
My presentation will explore both the embodied and non-embodied authority of the Mother (before and after her bodily death) as she established a culture of devotion through her flowers and at the side of the Samadhi. And, I will show that the contemporary life of the Samadhi and activities that take place in the courtyard today remain deeply tied to the Mother’s views of flowers, nature, and religion.
Presented at 48th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions; Lineage, Authority, & Schism
February 22, 2019
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
May Gallery, Mullen Library
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC
USA
PROGRAM
Framing the Question
9:00-9:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America) and Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America)
Scrolls for Liturgy
9:15-9:45 Nina Glibetic (University of Notre Dame), “Slavonic Liturgical Scrolls”
9:45-10:15 Stefanos Alexopoulos (The Catholic University of America), “Greek Liturgical Scrolls”
Scrolls for Formal Use
10:15-10:45 George A. Kiraz (Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute), “Syriac Sustatiqon and Omologia”
10:45-11:00 Break
Scrolls for Healing
11:00-11:30 Robin Darling Young (The Catholic University of America), “Armenian Scrolls of Healing”
11:30-12:00 Aaron Michael Butts (The Catholic University of America), “Ethiopic Scrolls of Healing”
Reflection
12:00-12:15 Leah Comeau (University of the Sciences), “Theorizing Scrolls and Material Religion”
12:15-12:30 Group Discussion
Open to the public. Address inquires to Dr. Aaron Butts (buttsa@cua.edu)
This interdisciplinary research engages with religious studies, anthropology, history, material culture, art history, Indology and Asian studies.