'You can do anything with a temple': Religion, philanthropy, and politics in South London and Sri Lanka

10Citations
Citations of this article
18Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Our title quotation is taken from an interview with the chief trustee of a leading Hindu temple in south London, and captures the curious mixture of philanthropy, politics, and individual ambition that has emerged around Sri Lankan Tamil temples in the diaspora. During the long years of civil war, temples became centres of mobilization for the growing Tamil diaspora, and were often accused of channelling funds to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and its various front organizations. Since the end of the war, in 2009, the same temples now support orphanages and other good works in Sri Lanka, and their efforts are starting to be emulated by temples in Sri Lanka itself. At the heart of our article is a dispute between the UK Charity Commission and the chief trustee of a London temple, who is accused of misuse of temple funds and 'failure to dissociate' the temple from a terrorist organization. A close reading of the case and its unexpected denouement reveals the difficulties of bounding the zone of philanthropy.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Maunaguru, S., & Spencer, J. (2018). “You can do anything with a temple”: Religion, philanthropy, and politics in South London and Sri Lanka. Modern Asian Studies, 52(1), 186–213. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X17000385

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free