Reliving Christian Life in the Globalized World Today: Cultural Celebrations in Urban Churches of Mumbai

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Foreword Culture is human specific. But it manifests itself in various forms in space and time. The essence of culture is the human longing for life and meaning. It organizes itself in a complex web of economic, social, political, aesthetic and religious organizations and institutions. Anthropology concentrates on the study of culture. Culture, the cumulative experience of human wisdom through the ages has been stored in symbols, rituals and myths. These rites and rituals are impregnated with meaning. For every human society, life itself is a celebration of giving meaning to different events of human existence as people encounter changes in their own life and in the environment. For centuries different cultures have experienced life in different ways and these experiences are stored in different rituals, symbols and myths. These are taught to human beings through the process of enculturation. Through culture-learning a person is humanized and receives identity and ownership in a society.

Today, there is a growing trend in anthropology to understand humankind through its experience. The anthropology of experience deals with how individuals actually experience their culture. In almost all cultures, life is experienced as pulsating and rhythmical. It is a combination of breaks and re-unions. Rituals and rites are means by which these experiences of life are communicated. Hence, experiences of humankind are heavily embedded in cultural symbols, particularly those of rituals, celebrations and other powerful performative genres.

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