Anglicized Krishna in India: A Study on God-Posters in ISKCON

Religion and Social Communication 21, no. 1 (2023)

ISSN 1686-9184

Author

Ankita Patra 

 Abstract

The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a testimony to the emergence of new religious-cultural imagination for a virtuous landscape in Odisha. Calendar art and God-poster in ISKCON represents an alternative identity to its believers. The bourgeoning circulation of this new genre of calendar art stands in stark contrast with the existing calendar art and the God poster of religious theme in the Odia’s society. The art is introducing novelty to the popular imagination and the life-world of the onlookers and the believers. The ISKCON’s God poster enables the cultivation of ‘habituation’ among the followers of the utopian imagination. This article discusses the subtle blend of the new emerging genre of calendar art/God-poster in the religious visual piety with the existing religious-cultural imagination in Odisha. The article also presents the in-depth study of the devotees and their engagement with this new genre of calendar art and God-poster. Through the study, the article illustrates how the new calendar art is carving a niche for itself in creating the desired religious imagination. The discussion contributes to the sociology of religion and visual studies.  

Keywords

visual culture, calendar art, God-poster, ISKCON, religious imagination 

PAGES 190-207

Submitted: April 2, 2023; Accepted: April 13, 2023; Published: May 30, 2023