Renovated ancestral homes have become a mainstay of tourism in Kerala. Soumithra investigates how ancestral homestays not only draw from existing caste and class hierarchies, but also play a role in sustaining these in the era of the supposedly free market.
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Memories of Slavery: The Bonded Labour System in Valliyoorkaav Temple
Through oral narratives collected during their fieldwork, Shibina and Anjitha delve into the obscure history of a bonded labour system that was practiced in the Valliyurkaav temple of Wayanad.
Read more‘Everything Old is New Again’: Telling the Story of the Sabarimala Battle
In anticipation of Deepa Das Acevedo’s forthcoming book, The Battle for Sabarimala: Religion, Law, and Gender in Contemporary India (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), Ala spoke to Deepa about the nuances of the case, and the meeting of the old and the new in this heavily mediatised legal battle for women’s entry into a temple.
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