<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n
\nI was discussing this with a Christian colleague yesterday, and he
\nasked what I thought about having kids dress up as Hindu deities. I
\nhave to admit, his question caught me off guard. A bindi<\/i>-wearing Indian Princess is one thing, but dressing up like a goddess…?<\/p>\n
The
\nmore I thought about it, though, the less sure I became of how I felt
\nabout the whole thing. Would it be a celebration of Hinduism’s rich
\nimagery, or a mockery of faith? Would it provide a chance for Hindus to
\nshare their faith and beliefs with others, or just fuel stereotypes and
\nmarginalize Hindus? And how would the Hindu kids themselves feel about
\nit, anyway?<\/p>\n
On …I realize that my anger at Heidi’s choice of costume is not about religion as much as it is about racism. <\/span>Kali Despite Heidi Klum’s obvious confusion, Kali is neither a plastic skeleton nor a dime store pirate. <\/span>She is not a saucy serving wench nor a vixenish she-devil. <\/span>By As much as I’d love to see more integration on October 31, I can’t help but share Dasgupta’s concerns about “<\/font>turning a religious and cultural symbol into a freakish spectacle.”<\/p>\n <\/font><\/span>I’m still undecided about “Hindu-izing” Halloween. What do you think? <\/p>\n Oh, Growing up, I always experienced Halloween as a clashing of cultures. More than any other American holiday, Halloween seemed to draw a line in the sand between the world that my Hindu immigrant parents resided in and the American suburban world around me. Since Halloween usually tends to coincide with a number of Hindu holidays…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gods-and-goddesses","category-holidays-festivals","category-humor","category-salad-vs-samosa"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"girl](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/123\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/girl%20dressed%20as%20krishna-thumb-200x131-9007.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>On the hand, there is<\/i> precedent for dressing
\nup as deities in Hinduism. Many parents dress their children up as Lord
\nKrishna on Krishna Janmashtami. Ramleela — dramatic re-enactments of
\nLord Rama’s epic pastimes — also involve children and adults donning
\ncostumes to depict figures such as Lord Rama, the brave Hanuman, or the
\ndastardly demon king Ravana. There’s even a Bengali tradition of
\ndressing up as the goddess Kali — blood-red tongue, carrying a
\nmachete, and wearing a garland of skulls — for the holiday of Kali
\nPuja every October\/November; undoubtedly, the closest direct link
\nbetween Halloween and Hinduism I’ve found yet . <\/p>\n![\"child](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/123\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/child%20dressed%20as%20durga-thumb-150x112-9011.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>And some
\nHindu temples have started using Halloween as a way to connect Hindu
\nkids withe their culture. Our local Krishna temple in New Jersey is
\nhosting a children’s costume contest on Halloween, where the kids are
\ninvited to depict any character from Krishna’s life story.<\/p>\n
\nthe other hand, does it make a difference when the Hindu deity costume
\nis taken out of the context of a Hindu holiday (or a temple-sponsored
\ncostume pageant), and mapped on to the American Halloween mainstream?
\nDoes it denigrate Hinduism to have a portrayal of Lord Krishna
\nsoliciting candy door-to-door alongside Spiderman or Harry Potter? Are
\nwe putting divinity in the same character as fictional superheroes or,
\nworse yet, freaks and creatures that only get to come out into the
\nlight of day once a year? And what does that communicate about Hinduism
\namong other faiths? How would we feel about children dressing up like
\nJesus or Buddha or Mohammed for Halloween?<\/p>\n![\"child-dressed-as-hindu-god.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/123\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/child-dressed-as-hindu-god-thumb-200x150-9014.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>And what if Hindu
\ncostumes became popular enough to attract the attention of non-Hindus?
\nDoes that change things? Is it okay to wear a costume depicting the
\ngoddess Kali because you think her look is “gruesome” and “cool” even
\nif you don’t believe in her?<\/p>\n![\"Heidi](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/123\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/Heidi%20Klum%20Hindu%20Goddess%20Halloween-thumb-150x221-9017.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>Hollywood actress Heidi Klum seemed
\nto think so<\/a> last year, and got slammed for it. In a thoughftul blog
\npost about the bruhaha<\/a>, Sayantani Dasgupta tried to articulate why
\nKlum’s costume choice rubbed her the wrong way:<\/p>\n\n
\nis a living goddess – living in the sense that she is actively
\nworshipped as a manifestation of the feminine force which can take life
\nas well as give it. <\/span>Kali is living in that her symbolism
\n– whether as a goddess of ferocious destruction or of redemptive change
\n– is integrated into the culture of an entire subcontinent. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
\nturning a religious and cultural symbol into a freakish if dramatic
\nHalloween spectacle, Klum has enacted the most base sort of cultural
\nappropriation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nand in case you were wondering, my daughter will be dressed up as a
\nchubby little pumpkin for her first Halloween this year. Or maybe, just
\nmaybe, an Indian Princess.
<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n