Hanuman in a Woman’s Body: Reconfiguring Female Domesticity as Public Performance

Presenter:

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Abstract

Marwari merchants, who live throughout India but trace descent to Rajasthan, are famous for their patronage of Hanuman, a personification of chaste masculinity. They are also noted for their conservative views, favoring the seclusion of women in accord with “Rajasthani tradition.” And yet, gender norms in Marwari society have recently been shifting towards women’s public visibility in line with pan-Indian government policy. Consider, then, a female Jain Marwari medium named Manju Baisa and her entourage in Delhi, who have built a prosperous nationwide devotional network centered on urban Jains. In the company of female relatives at lavish public devotional events, Manju Baisa channels Babosa, her husband’s boy-ancestor, who brings great miracles and is frequently lauded as an avatar of Hanuman himself. Hanuman’s presence is apparent when the medium channels Babosa; she puffs up her cheeks like the muzzle of a monkey to show that his power has entered her. How do we theorize a Marwari woman publicly manifesting Hanuman’s divine power? One model could be any of Hanuman’s exorcism shrines, where women’s bodies are typically the locus of ritual attention, since they are regarded as being most vulnerable to spirit attack, especially connected to husbands’ ancestors. At Mehandipur, the most famous such shrine, devotees explain that the god is a child form of Hanuman, so he is not constrained by gender segregation and can enter women’s bodies to battle spirits. Similarly, Babosa is a desexualized juvenile version of Hanuman, allowing the medium to embody him. Thus, we see an instance where a Marwari woman has arguably reconfigured female domesticity as public performance.