Carl Vadivella Belle's Thaipusam in Malaysia, A Hindu Festival in the Tamil Diaspora, published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in 2017, is an academic study of the Thaipusam festival as practiced by Malaysia's Tamil Hindu community, including the kavadi burden bearing and body piercing devotional acts performed at Batu Caves and elsewhere, tracing how the festival developed its specific Malaysian form within the diaspora rather than as a simple transplant from Tamil Nadu. Belle draws on long term fieldwork within the Malaysian Tamil community. Its strength is that diaspora specific focus, treating Malaysian Thaipusam as its own developed tradition rather than folding it into a generic account of Hindu festivals in India. Its limit is that its scope is specifically Malaysia, so a claim about Thaipusam as observed in Tamil Nadu itself or in other diaspora communities such as Singapore or Mauritius needs a source addressing that particular setting.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Carl Vadivella Belle's Thaipusam in Malaysia, published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in 2017, is a peer reviewed academic study built on long term fieldwork within the Malaysian Tamil community, treated at the top tier. NotesAcademic study of the Thaipusam festival among the Tamil Hindu diaspora in Malaysia.
Citation
AuthorCarl Vadivella Belle
PublisherISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore
Publication Year2017
Source Typeacademic monograph
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names India directly: "generic account of Hindu festivals in India."
This source names Malaysia directly: "Carl Vadivella Belle's Thaipusam in Malaysia, A Hindu Festival in the Tamil Diaspora, published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in 2017, is an academic study of the Thaipusam..."
This source names Mauritius directly: "communities such as Singapore or Mauritius needs a source addressing that particular setting."
This source names Singapore directly: "by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in 2017, is an academic study of the Thaipusam festival as practiced by Malaysia's Tamil Hindu community, including the kavadi burden bearing and body..."
This source names Tamils directly: "Carl Vadivella Belle's Thaipusam in Malaysia, A Hindu Festival in the Tamil Diaspora, published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in 2017, is an academic study of the Thaipusam..."
Claims Backed By This Source (25 claims)
This source backs 25 claims across the atlas. As facts: 16 well-attested. As cited relationships: 6 holds. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 12 claims: 7 well-attested, 5 holds.
- Sacred Sites, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
- Figures, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Cultures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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