Divine sustenance: Krishna Prasadam in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

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2011-08

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University of Hawaii at Manoa

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This thesis is an ethnographic study of the role of prasadam--sanctified food that has been ritually offered to the god Krishna--among the Honolulu branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishnas. Taking prasadam as the starting point, this thesis broadens from an examination of the meaning-laden exchange and consumption of prasadam to the social, spiritual, and political dimensions of prasadam distribution and production. It traces the connections facilitated by prasadam both within and outside of Honolulu's ISKCON community, with a particular focus on the utopian image of self-sustaining farm communities in ISKCON ideology. The thesis contextualizes these issues within the framework of the politics of food, farming and land in Hawaiʻi, illustrating the way in which Honolulu's ISKCON community is located in the particular context of Honolulu, and the ways in this branch of a transnational religious organization is made local.

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Theses for the degree of Master of Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Anthropology.

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