The Sacred Commerce: Hindu Leela Trust's Festival Economy and Identity

Thesis Abstract

This study investigates how a nonprofit religious organization, the Hindu Leela Trust, navigates festival economies, performer networks, and devotional identities within the broader urban religious marketplace, addressing the tension between sacred stewardship and market expansion. The problem centers on the potential commodification of ritual legitimacy as festival events attract sponsorship, merchandise, and tourism, potentially reshaping community identities and traditional practices. The aim is to elucidate how festival economies generate social value, influence participant identities, and affect organizational governance within a contemporary Hindu philanthropic context. Specific objectives are (1) to map the festival economy comprising philanthropy, ticketed events, vendor licensing, and sponsored rituals; (2) to examine how festival branding and sponsorship strategies shape devotional identities among participants, volunteers, and beneficiaries; (3) to analyze governance mechanisms, accountability, and ethical considerations in handling donations and commercial partnerships; (4) to evaluate the perceived social impact on local communities, including inclusivity and intergenerational transmission of tradition; and (5) to develop a theoretical model linking economic practices with identity construction in temple-based civil society. Methodologically, the study adopts a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative survey data with qualitative ethnography and in-depth interviews. The population comprises festival participants, volunteers, temple staff, sponsors, local merchants, and beneficiaries associated with the Trust during the annual Navaratra-Durga Puja season in Chennai, India. A stratified random sample of 400 festival attendees will be surveyed to quantify financial flows, motivational drivers for participation, and perceived authenticity of ritual practices. Purposive sampling will identify 40 key informants including executive trustees, festival coordinators, and senior priests for semi-structured interviews. Data collection instruments include a structured questionnaire for the attendee survey, interview guides for stakeholders, participant observation notes from five festival days, and documentary data from annual financial reports and marketing collateral. Validity will be enhanced through triangulation across survey data, interviews, and documentary evidence; reliability will be assessed using Cronbach’s alpha for scales measuring perceived authenticity and social value. Data analysis will employ descriptive statistics, multiple regression to test the relationship between sponsorship intensity and perceived devotional identity, and structural equation modelling to assess the mediating role of community perceived value. The qualitative component will utilize thematic analysis to identify patterns in narratives about sacred economy, with coding guided by the theories of commodification of religion and religion-market integration. A conceptual framework drawing on Bourdieu’s symbolic capital, Senn’s sponsorship ethics, and Weberian notions of charisma will be tested against empirical findings. Expected findings indicate that sponsorship and merchandising practices increase festival accessibility and charity outcomes while preserving core ritual structures; however, over-commercialization risks marginalizing minority devotional expressions and heightening performative displays. The study anticipates that reliance on symbolic capital—trust, legitimacy, and religious authority—will mediate the relationship between economic activity and participant identity, maintaining ritual authenticity among core adherents but producing differentiated experiences for casual visitors. It is expected that governance mechanisms emphasizing participatory budgeting, transparent reporting, and community benefit via education and microfinance schemes will correlate positively with perceived ethical stewardship and broader social impact. The contribution to knowledge lies in integrating organizational theory of religious philanthropy with cultural studies of festival economies to illuminate how faith-based NGOs manage sacred economies without eroding religious epistemology. The research extends the literature on religion and the marketplace by providing an empirical case of a regional Hindu trust operating at the intersection of devotion, philanthropy, and cultural entrepreneurship, and offers a theoretical model linking economic practices to identity formation in temple communities. The study concludes with recommendations for governance reform to strengthen transparency, enhance inclusive participation, and preserve ritual integrity while enabling sustainable funding. Policy implications include best-practice guidelines for trusts engaging in festival sponsorship, ethical branding, and stakeholder engagement to balance sacred purpose with economic vitality.