Saturated Space, Signs of Devotion in South Indian Temples

Abstract

In this article, I investigate the significance of contemporary Tamil temple signs that have been laid, hung, and sometimes painted over earlier stone inscriptions. I am particularly interested in the following questions: What is the purpose of these old and new signs? And how does their existence contribute to the devotional program of a temple? While signs appear everywhere within a temple complex and come in a wide variety of materials, I argue that their impact is not found at the level of an individual signboard. Instead, the significance of southeast Indian temple signs is found in the fullness of the walls and their non-linear refrains to events, values, communities, and scenes for the worship of the deity. To make this argument, I draw from affect theory, material studies, and especially concepts of accumulation and saturation.