Pathways of Devotion and Domination: Consumption, Caste and the Production of Space at Govardhan

Abstract

This paper examines the socio-spatial transformations of Govardhan Mountain, a pilgrimage site in Uttar Pradesh, India. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, combining participant observation, informal interviews, and spatial mapping, it argues that the once-egalitarian ritual of parikrama (circumambulation) has been reconfigured through the rising service economy, caste-based religious brokerage, and consumerist pressures. Employing Lefebvre’s production of space, Bourdieu’s concepts of symbolic capital and habitus, and insights from critical caste studies, the study shows how upper-caste networks dominate temple bidding, direct tourist flows, and commodify ritual goods. Simultaneously, marginalised castes are relegated to precarious e-rickshaw labour and informal markets, where they deploy everyday tactics of alliance and ritual reinterpretation to carve out visibility and dignity. The paper also highlights the ecological toll of adulterated ritual products (synthetic milk) and mismanaged communal resources, revealing a disconnect between various forms of the political economy of space. Policy interventions like plastic bans, cleaning contracts, and mobility regulations often fail due to corruption and a lack of grounding in local life-worlds. By centering both the structural reproduction of caste hierarchies and the tactical agency of marginalised actors, this study argues that space is neither static nor purely spiritual but a contested arena of power, capital, and everyday negotiation.