Building India: Religion, Craft and Infrastructure in Contemporary Asia

This project aims to show the critical role of Hinduism and the god Vishwakarma-literally, Maker of the Universe-in framing and propelling the infrastructural systems so key to Indias rise as a 21st century economic powerhouse. It explores the unprecedented growth of Vishwakarma worship across India's infrastructural and business enterprise sectors, and its role both in mobilizing a creative class of professionals and in instilling a spirit of craftsmanship among workers in Prime Minister Modi's Make-in-India campaign. The goal of the project is to bring religion and infrastructure into a single frame of description and analysis, revealing contemporary infrastructures as important new arenas for political, cultural, and religious change.