Cultures of lights

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Cultures of Lights

Link to the published Geoforum article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.07.012

Abstract

This paper is part of a larger project, looking at electricity access in rural India. For the

project, a nine months long ethnographic research was carried out in five villages in Bihar, an

eastern state of India. It involved looking at various sources of light – grid electricity, solar

lanterns, biomass micro-grids and kerosene oil. The paper tries to understand, and explain,

the cultural notions that dictate peoples’ specific lighting practices and lighting practices that

propagate particular cultural notions. The paper argues that, through the mediation of

materiality, light cultures (cultivates and propagates) culture and culture cultures light. It

does this by engaging with three key ideas. First, it argues that light has a critical role in

establishing and reinforcing honour. Following this, it examines light’s role in hospitality.

Lastly, it connects light to the religious beliefs among Hindus, and looks at how culture

affects the materiality of light. The paper approaches what light does and what it means as

emerging from a material-culture assemblage, which embodies the external and the internal,

the political and the productive, the corporal and the conceptual, the material, moral, and the

sensible. From this, light emerges with dual – material and non-material – properties, as it

interacts with culture.

Keywords

Light, dark, culture, materiality, hospitality, religion

Highlights

• Light emerges with dual – material and non-material – properties as it interacts with

culture


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• Light cultures (cultivates and propagates) culture and culture cultures light

• Light signals honour and hospitality

• Cultural notions and religious beliefs affect the materiality of light

1 Introduction

At the Royal Geography Society’s (with IBG) Annual Conference in 2013, four sessions

were organised on the themes of light and dark. These sessions were characterised by their

Western focus, with presentations geographically situating themselves in the UK, US, Canada,

Europe and Australia. The presentations engaged with the themes of art, history, public

lighting, urban design, mobility, festivity and identity, however, in the Western context. This

was representative of the wider research in the field of light. The body of research focusing

on light mostly comes from the Western world, and engages with Western themes,

exemplified from the research on “illumination and class identities” (Edensor & Millington

2009), “urban spaces” (McQuire 2005), light and space (Garvey 2005; Schivelbusch 1987),

“darkness and sensory perception” (Morris 2011) and “night-time economy” (Shaw 2010).

In the past, some work on light and dark has been done from the non-western perspective –

“night time social behaviour” (Ngesan & Karim 2012), and light and mobility (Zaki &

Ngesan 2012) – in Malaysia, light as part of hospitality in Jordan and light as a form of

communication between the deity and the worshiper in Hinduism (Bille & Sorensen 2007).

The other gap in this field of light and dark is the lack of focus on non-urban spaces.

Although, more recently Edensor (2013) and Morris (2011) have taken light and dark

research towards non-urban areas, most research on light has largely focused on cityscapes

and urban populations (even Edensor and Morris focus on non-urban spaces but not non-

urban populations). Keeping these in mind, drawing on ethnographic work carried out in five


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villages in the Indian state of Bihar, this paper attempts to contribute to the existing

geographical knowledge on light and dark, by extending it to non-western and non-urban

spaces. However, this is just a starting point for thinking about this paper.

More importantly, this paper is about the relationships between light and culture, and their

mediation by materiality. The paper argues that the meanings of light and what it does,

depend not just on its material or the culture that it is embedded in, but on both of these

(Hawkins 2010: 324). The interactions between materiality and culture give different

meanings to the spaces of lights and dark. The paper explores these meanings through the

themes of honour, hospitality and religious beliefs. Bille & Sorensen (2007: 266) argue for a

need to “unravel how the actual matter and the use of light shape experiences in culturally

specific ways and why”. The main aim of this paper is to interrogate how and why the

materiality of light matters in cultural experiences. Shaw (2014: 12) from his work on homes,

argues that “we experience dark and light relatedly….and we move between different levels

of light and gloom”. This relationality of light and dark, and the presence of different levels

of light and dark extend beyond the home. A second aim of this paper is to progress the

thinking about the spaces of light and dark, their overlaps and interspaces.

2 What are cultures of lights?

asato ma sadgamaya

tamaso ma jyotirgamaya

mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

Lead me from untruth to truth

Lead me from darkness to light

Lead me from death to immortality


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(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (one of the main Ancient Indian texts) — I.iii.28)

This ancient Sanskrit hymn is an ideal exemplar of the meanings of light and dark in Indian

culture. Darkness and light are clearly pitted against each other, with one depicting all that is

positive and other the negative. Darkness here is seen synonymous to untruth and death while

light is seen synonymous to truth and immortality. However, these meanings are not always

as clear or contrasting.

Gallan & Gibson (2011: 2509-2510) argue that by perceiving and categorising light different

from dark we create binaries of day and night that have been “largely uncontested” as in

“perceiving light, we categorise it different to dark”. They give several examples to

demonstrate how, often day seeps into night, light seeps into dark and vice versa, through the

flows of peoples, materialities and practices, like lighting networks and legislations. Gallan &

Gibson's (2011) argument could be extended further to context the binaries of the meanings

of light and dark. Morris (2011: 316) also finds the binaries of dark/light problematic and

argues that “one’s perception shuttles between extremes of light and dark….darkness is

situated, partial and relational”. Bille (2014: 6) argues that “the light from the bulb, candle,

sun or moon may visually present the world but it is in the nuances of darkness and shadows

– in the absences and invisibilities – that the particular atmosphere comes to life by

oscillations between connecting and separating things and people”.

Drawing from these, I argue that there is always a grey area (or in fact multiple shades of

grey) between the meanings of darkness and light and often both – light and dark – come

together to assign various meanings. After all, how would light be significant if there was no

darkness? The light at the end of the tunnel would not be significant if the tunnel itself was

not dark; neither would shadows be beautiful (or indeed visible) if they were not surrounded

by light. These notions have motivated this paper. It tries to understand some meanings of


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darkness and light and the grey areas between them. These shades of light, dark and grey

however, emerge, stabilise and disperse due to the presence, absence, type (kerosene, electric

etc.), quality, quantity and materiality of lights and their interactions with culture (see Gallan

& Gibson 2011: 2514-15).

In this paper materiality is seen as a key mediator between light and culture. Therefore,

before moving further, it is important to make a brief foray into the relationships between

culture and materiality. Appadurai (1986: 15) argues that “the transactions that surround

things are invested with the properties of social relations”. The question then is, how do the

material and the social construct each other in places like India where, as Appadurai (1986:

18) argues, the “social life of things is both rich and undisciplined”. However, the social life

of things is not always undisciplined. Things are placed at, and displaced from, particular

places, and particular times. They are used, and refused, by particular people, and in

particular situations. These particular placements and displacements, uses and refusals are

determined by social and cultural rules in place. It is culture, I argue, that sometimes

disciplines the social life of things.

Tolia-Kelly (2012: 154) argues that materiality should not only be about the matter that can

be touched and felt, but also about the “the politics, grammars and productive power of

materials” which deeply effect how places, and place of materials in these places, are

perceived. Anderson & Wylie (2009: 323-324) following Merleau-Ponty’s picture of “an

intimacy, a dialogue, and an indeterminacy between” the ‘external’ world that is sensed, and

the ‘internal’ perceiving world of senses, understand matter mainly as peoples’ “embedded

concerns” and “engaged perception”. Perceptions and concerns intertwine the “trajectories of

the material and the moral” (Norris 2012: 400). The ‘dialogues’ between “materialities and

sensibilities”, materialities and moralities, between materials and peoples leads to a domain

of material-culture assemblages. What light ‘does’ and what light ‘means’ depends not just


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on its material or the culture that it is embedded in, but on both of these (Hawkins 2010: 324).

Drawing from these arguments, this paper approaches light’s doings and its meaning as those

emerging from the material-culture assemblages which embody the external and the internal,

the political and the productive, the “corporal and the conceptual” (Hawkins 2010: 324), the

material, the moral, and the sensible.

The paper is divided into four key sections, each of which engages with a cultural notion. The

four arguments present four different, yet interconnected, notions of light and culture. The

key idea connecting these sections is that, light, mediated by materiality, acts as a signal for

certain cultural features. These features are signalled or revealed only when light, mediated

by materiality, ‘comes in contact’ or interacts with certain other social, material and cultural

features. The use of light in specific spaces and at specific times cultivates and propagates

specific cultural features and notions. Conversely, certain specific cultural features and

notions, mediated by materiality, determine the placement of specific types of lights in

specific spaces and at specific times. In addition to these, specific cultural notions and

practices, also affect the materiality of light. The importance of light increases and becomes

diverse in association with culture. In absence of its interactions with culture, light becomes

immaterial and with the interactions it is sometimes material and at others non-material but

not immaterial. Thus, specific cultural notions cultivate and propagate specific uses of light.

In other words, the key argument for this paper is that, mediated by materiality, light cultures

(cultivates and propagates) culture and culture cultures light i.e. light and culture support

each other’s reproduction.

The first section looks at light’s role in signalling honour. It argues that the quality and

quantity of visible light associated with a household signal its material possession and

reinforce and accentuate its honour. This contributes to the maintenance of the current, and


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creation of new, social structures. The second section discusses the role of light in signalling

human presence and the sociality of a household. The light from kerosene lamps work as

honing devices for locating human beings (Garvey 2005: 169) and the visible presence of

light in a household indicates its welcoming and social nature and consequently constructs an

impression of ‘being cultured’. It also creates a material and moral grey areas of hospitality,

one that is limited to the ‘outside’ spaces of the home. Following on from these, the third

section connects honour and hospitality, and argues that light is also used to extend honour

and hospitality to guests. However, hospitality is a calculated act and is ultimately used to

reinforce the host’s honour. These notions become much more important during special

events like weddings, when hospitality is extended to a large number of guests and more

important guests.

The fourth section connects light to religious beliefs among the Hindus. Bille & Sorensen

(2007: 272) and Edensor (2013: 3) argue the metaphorical relevance of light in contexts of

religion and enlightenment. This paper however, takes a step further and looks at the material

relevance of light in religion. It argues that the notion of purity accorded to the light

dedications made in Hindu rituals depends on the materiality of the energy sources and the

smokes and smells associated with these materials. This puts modern electric lights in a grey

area between purity and impurity.

3 Where are the cultures of lights: space and place of the

research

This paper is part of a wider research on electricity access looking at projects that provide

various electricity services including lights in villages in the Indian state of Bihar (see Kumar

2015). The key idea behind this research is to look at the role of micro scale renewable


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energy systems in electricity provision. For this, two baseline energy systems and two micro

renewable energy case studies are being considered. The baseline scenario consists of a

village connected to the central grid and another without electricity. The people in the village

without electricity depend on kerosene oil lamps and lanterns for lighting. While the central

grid theoretically provides a plethora of electricity services, kerosene oil only provides

lighting. Kerosene does not directly produce electricity but as it provides lighting, a critical

electricity service, it competes with other electricity systems. The two micro renewable

energy case studies considered are a solar lantern based electricity system and a biomass

micro grid based system. Both case studies provide lighting services.

A nine month long ethnographic study was conducted in five villages, spread across three

districts of Bihar, using participant observations, home tours, interviews and group

discussions while “spending time, being, living, working with the community” (Laurier, 2005:

133). The multi-methods approach was taken so that data validity by cross-referencing and

triangulation could be carried out to make the research more comprehensive (Mckendrick,

2009:130). Participant observations and home tours included the observation of daily

activities, behaviours and practices of people using, operating and maintaining the various

light sources. These were recorded as field notes, audio or video recordings and photographs.

Focus groups were carried out as informal, semi-structured discussions with the community

to gain insights into shared perceptions, beliefs, customs and behaviours. Elite interviews,

also in semi-structured format, were carried out with key informants from the communities to

get a historical account of the various light sources being used in the village, and the

changing practices and critical events or milestones for the village. Since light and peoples’

engagement with it formed a key theme of this research, most of the fieldwork was carried

out after sunset, which added the unique dimension of conducting fieldwork in the dark to

this research.


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Originally, the villages were chosen to represent different electricity systems discussed above.

However, on the ground they represented various combinations of energy systems and light

sources, adding diesel generators, kerosene lamps and candle lights to the above list. These

sources of light were often used in various combinations depending on the space, time and

contexts. Out of the five villages, two each were situated in districts Begusarai and Lakisarai

on the northern and southern banks of the Ganges respectively. The fifth village was in West

Champaran, a district bordering Nepal. Socially, the villages mostly consisted of Hindus with

a sizable Muslim population in one, Berangpur. However, within the Hindu villages several

combinations of castes were present. The village Rangpur had an about equal presence of the

members from the higher castes and lower castes. This village had a co-presence of the

central grid and kerosene oil. Berangpur consisted mainly of families from the lower castes

with only a few families belonging to the higher castes. It was not connected to the central

grid and relied on kerosene oil and a micro-grid running on a diesel generator. Rangpur and

Berangpur were neighbouring villages, both in the Begusarai District. Among the two

villages in the Lakhisarai, Bijuriya had a larger population of members from the lower castes

and had a co-presence of all the electricity systems under consideration in this research. The

fourth village, Sahariya consisted predominantly of families from the higher castes and had a

co-presence of solar lanterns, kerosene and the central grid. Hardiya, the only village from

West Chamapran consisted uniformly of the members of the lower castes and was served by

the central grid, biomass micro-grid and the kerosene networks.

4 Light and Honour

Lights, their presence and absence, their quality and quantity, are all connected with honour.

Women in Bihari villages have historically and traditionally been involved in cooking,

cleaning and child care. These jobs mostly take place within the four walls of the homes. In


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addition to this, the notion of a ‘cultured woman’ staying outside the sight of ‘other’ men (a

form of purdah or curtain must be maintained between men and women) means that most

women are limited inside their homes (Kumbhare 2009: 76). Chakrabarty (1992: 543) argues

that the “actual spatial arrangements may embody this division (of inside/outside) but the

cultural practices productive of ‘boundaries markers’ cannot be reduced to the question of

how physical space is used in particular circumstances”. However, cultural practices are

constructive of the use of the physical spaces. McCarthy (2005: 120) argues that “social roles

and conventions are…another mechanism that can regulate, determine, and produce

interiority” and therefore, also exteriority. This construction of the cultural and physical

inside-outside leads to the dalaan, bangla or baithaka – which are spaces similar to Veranda

or Patio in western homes (fig. 1). These open, and in most cases uncovered spaces, outside

or in front of most Bihari houses, though are a part of the home, become ‘outside’ due to their

cultural construction. Due to their open, uncovered nature – lack of purdah – women avoid

these spaces and men, almost always, exclusively occupy them. They gather here for meeting


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and greeting or just general evening chit-chat. Guests are often entertained in these spaces. It

is also important to mention that the responsibility for purdah, although primarily on women,

also lies on men. Men from one household seldom go into, and hence see, the insides of other

people’s homes. In most cases, the spaces outside the house are the only spaces visible to the

‘others’ i.e. men from other households. Most women from other households, due to their

limited mobility, are not able to see these spaces. In a way then, these spaces – dalaan,

bangla, baithaka – becomes a showcase for the households, similar to Cieraad's (1999:

31quoted in Garvey 2005) exploration of Dutch windows as “‘lighted showcase’, a spectacle

for visibility and a ‘type of exhibitionism’” (also see Hannerz 1997; Garvey 2005).

The portrayal of this space constructs the perception of the household in the society and light

plays a prominent role in this. Most people in the research villages argue that they prioritise

lights outside their house, invariably in this space occupied by men, even if the inside of their

house remains dark. They explain that having a light in front of the house, in the space that is

publically visible upholds their honour in the society.

Figure 1: The patio or veranda in a house in Bijuriya and the solar lantern that lights it every night


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Yes! This (leaving the bangla in dark) would be dishonourable. That is why in

the past, in every village, every bangla had a lantern.

[…]

…If there is no lantern people would say, “They cannot even afford a lamp on

their bangla”. This is a matter of honour.

(Mr. Ramesh Singh, Farmer, Bijuriya)

Mr. Singh, in the quote above, explains how light and its presence or absence plays into

notions of honour and dishonour. During the research, it was observed that, several

households either had kerosene lanterns hanging in front of them or kept solar lanterns or

light bulbs in front of the house. Some people, who had access to the solar lanterns, and could

afford to rent more than one, kept a solar lantern in their dalan, bangla or baithaka (fig. 1). It

is important to note that Mr. Singh uses the word ‘afford’, which implies that people

associate light with the material possessions of the household, which ultimately decide

people’s status in their society.

We did not keep the solar light in the room; we kept it on the patio.

[….]

Outside because it lighted the whole patio…so it could be seen.

[….]

Yes, this is a question of honour.

[….]


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The question of honour is that, if a visitor comes. My house is by the main

road. I have a big house, people know me as the mukhiya (headman).

(Mr. Rajendra Singh, Farmer, Bijuriya)

Here, Mr. Rajendra Singh sees light in perspective of his material and social status. He has a

big house and is an important person in the village. The presence of light adds to his material

and social status. So, light, in this way, becomes a marker of the material possessions of the

household and the quantity and quality of light outside the house upgrades or degrades

people’s honour in the society. Winther (2008: 134) presents a similar argument when

discussing bright lights outside a politician's house in Zanzibar as a material demonstration of

his position, accomplishment, knowledge and resources.

As the quality of the light becomes a factor, the superior light (brighter and wider reach) from

modern electricity systems like solar lanterns, clearly distinguishable from the comparatively

inferior light of the kerosene lanterns or lamps, comes into play. This distinction between the

standard of lights, some villagers argue, has an impact on the societal perceptions of the

household’s standards of living. The perception of standard of living could also be seen as a

material marker for honour (a big house in case of Mr. Singh also signifies his standard of

living). In case of the Indian society, Appadurai (1986: 17) argues, “there is hardly any

interest in minimalism” and “what is sought and desired is the warmth of profusion and the

enchantment of multiplicity” of both things and peoples. Consequently, the display of

multiple and more things – in this case lights – becomes critical. Lights, and better lights, are

also critical as they illuminate other material possessions like the kind of house, types and

extent of material possession of the household etc.

By becoming a sign of the material capacities of people and contributing to the rise or fall of

their honour levels, lights, and access to superior or inferior lights, produce new social


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stratifications. Edensor & Millington (2009: 117) argue that lights could be instrumental in

making class “through the motivations, understandings and values of those who produce”

them. They discuss the reinforcement of class identities, which is applicable in the case of the

superior lights and reinforced honours from the modern electric lights too (ibid.). Electricity

systems like solar lanterns create further social stratifications by dividing various social

groups into those who have access to the superior lights, and those who do not (Wong 2010;

Jacobson 2007; see also Cross 2013). Thus, mediated by materiality, through its production

of class, light here shows its “productive powers” (Tolia-Kelly 2012: 154). Further to this,

due to its relationship with honour, its prioritisation outside brings out a politics of home to

light, where women who are limited to the insides do not get access to the modern electric

lights like solar lanterns.

5 Light and hospitality

Light, and its prioritisation in publically visible spaces like dalan, bangla or baithaka, is also

associated with the notion of hospitality, which is generally carried out in the ‘outside’ spaces

of the home.

Lights in the publically visible spaces are used as honing devices for the presence of human

beings in the village ‘darkscapes’. Historically, the absence of public lighting meant that

lights came only from kerosene lanterns and lamps in or outside people’s homes. This stands

true even today as solar street lighting in the villages is sparse and often non-functional.

Figure 2 from Rangpur demonstrates exactly that – the village has solar street lighting but

still, most parts sit in darkness with lights coming only from solitary kerosene lamps or

lanterns outside houses. Following these lights one can reach a house. While the space around

the light outside a house may be unoccupied, its presence still signifies that someone is


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around, that human beings are nearby. Lights in the context of the darkscapes of these

villages become a signal of human presence. The idea of light as a signal was articulated

during this research as follows:

If I keep a light here, (if) someone comes, sees the light and (they would) call

me. They know (that someone is here)...It is like a signal...A type of signal

that some human being is here. That is it...a signal which means someone is

here.

(Mr. Rajendra Singh, Farmer, Bijuriya)

Mr. Singh explains that he would keep a light outside his house where it is visible to others.

This often means keeping the light in an open space outside the room that he may be

occupying. In figure 2 it can be observed that the lantern is hung to a pillar, towards the

outside of the patio, to give it a higher and uninterrupted position and therefore more

visibility (distance wise), even if it means keeping it relatively farther away from the people

occupying the patio, leaving them in relative darkness. The clear visibility of light indicates

human presence, even if humans are not visible. Getting an indication of the human presence,

the visitor can call for Mr. Singh. Similar to the signals in Bihari villages, Garvey (2005: 169)

argues that light from candles on the windows of Norwegian homes are like “beacon(s) in

darkened surroundings”. However, the question then is, why is a clear, uninterrupted signal

for human presence required?


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Light, which signals human presence has a symbiotic relationship with culture – its use as

signal emerges from, and contributes to, the culture of hospitality in Bihari villages. Derrida

(2005: 6) connects hospitality, sociality and culture by arguing that “all ethics of hospitality

are not the same, but there is no culture or social bond without a principle of hospitality”.

Hospitality in these villages is also a marker of sociality and ‘good culture’. Since, light is

seen as a signal of human presence for the visitors, its presence or absence determines the

sociality and the ‘culture’ of the household. Light and its presence in publically visible spaces

means that people are at home and that they welcome guests.

Light, makes one feel that people live here, this is inhabited by humans...Like,

someone may come late night, get off from the train, they would feel that now

they have reached the village, reached home.... if I go here (to the house with

light) I would get shelter, I would get help.

Figure 2: The light from a solitary kerosene lantern outside a house in the village darkscape in Rangpur


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(Mr. Ramesh Singh’s wife1, Teacher, Bijuriya)

Welcoming and hosting contributes to the construction of a social and cultured image of the

household. On the other hand, the absence of light indicates unwelcoming nature of the

household and hence anti-social or un-cultured behaviour. Bille & Sorensen (2007: 227), with

reference to the Jordanian Bedouin, explain that inviting visitors indoors and protecting them

from harm “rearticulates social customs by creating a ‘moral space’, in which the guest is

treated as a member of the ‘house’”. Mr. Singh’s wife informs that, in the past, people were

ready for the arrival of guests until the last train left the nearest railway station, and only then

did they wind up their day by turning off the hearth and the lamps. The ‘moral space’ that

extended to the whole society created a culture in which, people were always ready to invite

and entertain guests. The signalling nature of light has embedded itself in culture and defines

the social and cultural mores and markers.

Bille (2013: 5) outlines the critical nature of hospitality with reference to hygge (cosiness) –

“preparation and maintenance of cosiness may indeed be stressful itself for the guests, hosts

or family, as expectation may be high to make sure that everything is in place”. He further

argues that “a lit candle, or the dimmed dispersed light, is a welcoming sign both in public

and private spaces as an invitation to cosiness even if it may imply being forced into norm-

governed behaviour” (ibid.). Here, I would argue, he refers to the construction of culture

through the use of lights and the place of lights in a culture of hospitality when he alludes to

“norm-governed behaviour”. Similar notions are employed when it comes to hospitality in

Bihari villages.

Bille (2014: 6), in his work in Denmark argues that light and the “visual exposure” created by

it are ways of “connecting with people and creating an image of openness. As more people

1 This pseudonym is used to as accurately as possible represent the culture of these villages. Females are known by the names of the male members of their family – ‘wife of’, ‘daughter-‐of’, ‘sister-‐of’ or ‘mother-‐of’.


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share this will for visibility, the more the neighbourhood come to express such ideals”. The

neighbourhood’s expression of ‘ideals’ is what is often seen as the ‘culture of the

neighbourhood’ – shared ideals, norms and morals. Light in Denmark helps mobilise a

culture of connectivity and openness.

However, as Derrida (2005: 6) argues, there is absolute hospitality, but there is also its

suspension, its limits. In Bihari villages, light signifies an openness towards guests, but it also

signifies a closure, a limitation. Since male members of the society have a higher degree of

mobility, most guests are also males. The culture in these villages creates a principle of

hospitality, but limits it to the outside. Purdah must be maintained between ‘other’ men and

the women of the household who are inside the house. The guests must be limited to the

outside space – the dalan, bangla or baithaka. They are provided all essential facilities – food,

shelter and very importantly, in this case, light – in the outside space. The culture of

hospitality makes light critical in the ‘outside’ spaces, not just for welcoming guests, but also

welcoming the guests only in the ‘outside’ spaces. This signifies an opening but at the same

time a closure, as Derrida (2005: 6) says “to protect against the unlimited arrival of the other”.

As “interiority is the ability to invite and to refuse”, by taking the guest inside but at the same

time living them outside, the host depends on a constraint build by the weaving together of

interiority and exteriority (McCarthy 2005: 116-120) to provide hospitality, but also to limit it.

The limits of light and dark create limits of space for the guest, bringing to light the grey

moral space of hospitality.

In this, and the earlier section, I discussed some cultural notions that, mediated by materiality,

connect light, its quality and quantity with hospitality and honour respectively. However,

these two notions are not always constructed or propagated alone. Often culture, honour and

hospitality are closely interlinked, and light and its materiality contribute to the maintenance

of these inter linkages. The next section looks at light’s role in these inter linkages.


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6 Light, honour and hospitality

Derrida (2005: 6) argues that the principle of hospitality “demands, even creates the desire

for, a welcome without reserve and without calculation, an exposure without limit to whoever

arrives” although different cultures do create limitations and reservations (explained in the

earlier section). In this section, I argue that culture also demands calculations, calculations of

honour – honour that is accorded to the self, by honour accorded to the guest, through

hospitality – and that light plays a critical role in this.

There is a popular Sanskrit saying in India, “atithi devo bhawah” meaning “guest is

equivalent to god”. This special place given to guests translates into their special treatment.

Garvey (2005: 173) has observed that Somali migrants in Norway are at “pains to illustrate

their spontaneity, accessibility and sociability through an open household, based on ideals of

hospitality”. Day & Hitchings (2009: 52) have alluded to the use of energy in a “culture of

hospitality….to present a warm home for the visitors” in the UK.

In Bihari villages even people who live very modest lives make special arrangements for

guests. Guests are not always expected to come announced. The word for guest in Hindi –

atithi (a-tithi) – means one who neither has an arrival nor a departure date. Often if a guest

suddenly arrives, a child can be seen running towards the nearest shop to get special

provisions. Lights, their quality and provision also fit into the idea of serving guest with the

best facilities. This played out when, during the fieldwork, I reached a household

unannounced, for an interview. Two men were sitting outside the house, in the dark, sipping

tea. I said jokingly, “I see you are having tea in the dark”. This was enough to start what I

would call a ‘luminous reaction’. Someone was promptly called, and asked to light up and

quickly bring a lantern. Any number of protests and apologies from me did not work and

soon a kerosene lantern arrived to light up the ‘guest space’. Being a male ‘other’, I occupied


20

the space outside the house – the veranda or patio. Of course, this was followed by tea and

snacks.

If the house has access to different light sources, the best light (quality and quantity) is put in

the ‘guest space’, again following the idea of best for the guest. Bille & Sorensen (2007: 277)

argue that “hospitality adopts a material element in the quality of coffee, tea, food, and the

things presented – and perhaps more important not presented – and used during its

consumption”. These gestures extend special honour to the guest, as it happened in one

household in Sahariya that was renting solar lanterns to run tuitions for the village children.

My arrival as a guest here meant that the lantern was placed in my space and the critical

activity of studying (for the time being) happened under kerosene lamps. Upon my departure,

the solar lantern with its ‘better light’ was returned to the tuition space. Lighting up the guests’

space and not leaving them in dark accords honour to guests by giving them precedence and

importance over other activities that also require light or certain quality and quantity of light.

In addition to this, the provision of ‘superior lights’ in the ‘guest space’ establishes a ‘higher

place’ of the guests in the social hierarchy by giving them a ‘superior treatment’.

This act of hospitality reinforces the host’s honour in their society by establishing the fact

that they take care, and have the material capabilities for taking care of the guests well. This

means that they are ‘honourable people’. Hospitality, the extent of hospitality, and the

materials of hospitality, of which the quality and quantity of light are constituents, protect and

reinforce the hosts’ honour by contributing to the perception of their material possessions,.

This means that the household is social and ‘cultured’ and therefore, honourable. Pandya

(1998: 68) explains that some communities “use the ‘outsider’ to publicize their position and

standing within the community” there by protecting and accentuating their own honour. In

Rangpur, during a group discussion people argued that they would not care if important work

– like the tuition in Sahariya – gets postponed on questions of honour. They would always


21

prioritise honour. They explained that although now due to the rising cost and falling supply

of kerosene, they sometimes choose not to light a lamp in their patio, they would do so

quickly when a guest arrives, even if this meant using expensive kerosene.

Thus, hospitality and the use of light in it are not always without calculations. Calculations of

how and up to what extent would hospitality accentuate the hosts’ own prestige often take

place. Derrida (2005: 6) argues that unconditional hospitality and the conditions that make

hospitality possible “do not contradict each other, they remain heterogeneous at the very

moment that they appeal to each other, in a disconcerting way”. Following Derrida, I argue

that, what ultimately make hospitality and certain forms and practices of hospitality possible

in these villages are the cultural limitations (of space), reservations (of access) and

calculations (of honour). Light, through the connector materiality, plays a critical role in these

practices, limitations, reservations and calculations of hospitality.

Light and its provision become all the more important during special occasions. The two

notions discussed earlier – ‘protecting honour’ (of the self) and ‘providing honour’ (to the

guest) – play out during special occasions like weddings (Bloch et al. 2004; Rajaraman 1983).

In Bihar (and many other parts of India), most special occasions like wedding parties or

funeral dinners take place at night. This makes light all the more important on these occasions.

Even people with modest economic capacities beg or borrow money to create or provide as

much light as possible (Bloch et al. 2004: 3). Often diesel generator sets are rented and

temporary micro-grids are set up to light up the event space. This transforms the space in and

around the household, which, in several cases, resembles an island of light in an otherwise

dark village. Fig. 3 shows the contrast of lighting in the same household on an ordinary night

(top) and a wedding night (bottom). These special arrangements of lights (and other

provisions like food) are related to honour in several ways. As in the daily lives, these special

provisions are meant to honour guests attending the wedding through appropriate hospitality


22

(Jeffery & Jeffery 1997: 92). In addition to this, “the ultimate and most distinguished guest is

the bridegroom” and must be given the most superior treatment (Pandya 1998: 67).

Bihari Hindu weddings consist of two main events – one that is equivalent to engagement in

the western countries and the other is the main wedding event. The first event takes place in

Figure 3: Everyday lighting from a solitary kerosene lamp (top) and wedding day lighting from the diesel generator micro-‐grid (bottom) in a household in Rangpur


23

the groom’s village and for which a group of people from the bride’s village visit. The second

event, which is much bigger, takes place in the bride’s village. In both events the respective

sides make special arrangements for hosting not only the other side but also their own

villages. Both events are also used as displays of the material and social possessions of the

two families and gifts presented to the soon to be married couple are often kept for public

display (fig. 4). The gifts consist of gold and silver jewellery, electronic equipment

(television, fridge) and, in many cases, cars and motorcycles. These are meant to display and

establish the material capacities of the families in their society. However, often the bride’s

side is pressured to go an extra mile by the groom’s side to uphold their honour. These

arrangements are also important to save or establish their own (the bride side’s) honour

among their society i.e. calculations of honour happen on both sides. The kind of lighting

provisions people make become an honour marker and also something to be emulated, strived

for and exceed by others in the society (Bloch et al. 2004: 4). Often these better wedding

arrangements with reference to the particular households are spoken of for years to come.

Figure 4: Gifts presented to the soon to be married couple on display during a Bihari wedding ceremony


24

However, these lights and their relations to peoples’ honours also create and reinforce

existing hierarchies of the society. Those with greater material capacities are able to make

better arrangements compared to those with lower capacities and further raise their honours.

7 Lights, materiality and beliefs

Edensor (2013: 7) explains that for persecuted Christian ascetics “darkness inspired new

forms of piety, metaphorically encapsulating the religious struggle towards the light and the

path from earthly gloom to illuminated afterlife, and the invisibility, ineffability and

inexpressibility of the divine”. Rose (2010: 521) also narrates the use of darkness to connect

to the divine in the great pyramid of Giza. However, “Christians continue to conceive God as

the light-bringer and Christ as the ‘light of the world’” (Edensor 2013: 447). Similarly, the

Sanskrit hymn at the beginning of this article presents an example of the strong connection of

lights to Hindu beliefs.

Making offerings of light and articles of light to the gods is a common Hindu ritual and

has embedded itself into the culture too. People in the research villages argue that every

evening, a lamp must be taken around the house in every Hindu household in order to being

in good, and drive away bad fortune. A lamp must also be lighted in the prayer room (or the

temple within the house) as an offering to the gods, a practice that can be seen in Hindu

temples too. In Bihari villages, this activity of light dedication is known as saanjh dena

(literal translation: evening giving) or the evening dedication (of light). These offerings of

light and the particular materials used to produce them raise questions about the materiality of

light. I argue that the material of the source of light for these offerings affects the materiality

of light. This emerges from the “widespread cultural belief in India in the capacity of material

things to absorb and transmit the essence of people and places with which they have


25

previously come into contact, as part of a more encompassing, profound cognitive system of

reasoning” (Norris 2004: 62).

The offerings of light should preferably emerge from pure sources like ghee from cows’ milk,

mustard oil or sesame oil. Cows are considered sacred in India and are “higher in ritual status

than all humans, including Brahmans2” (Simoons et al. 1981: 130). Their five products – milk,

dung, ghee (butter), curd and urine – called panchgavya are considered purifying objects

(Batra 1986: 169). These products, due to their purity, are often used in religious rituals.

“Intrinsically pure, they help to maintain a state of ritual purity which is an essential

requirement to approach the divinity” (Batra 1986: 169). Cows’ milk is used to bathe and

cleanse the idols to be prayed to, the prayer area is layered by cow dung to cleanse and purify

it, and the ghee is used to light prayer fires and make dedications of light.

The purity associated with these natural materials is connected to Hinduism being a form of

nature worship in which earth is considered a goddess and rivers (for example the Ganges),

trees (sacred groves) and several animals (for example cows) are accorded sacred status

(Narayanan 2001). The natural ghee, coming from the sacred cow becomes a source of the

sacred and pure light, worthy of a divine dedication. Similarly, mustard oil coming directly

from mustard plants is pure and worthy of the divine dedication, as is sesame oil. Further, I

argue that the smokes and smells that come from different materials used for light impact the

notions of purity associated with them. While ghee burns with a pungent smell and a clear

smoke, kerosene has a bad odour and black smoke. Even camphor, which was earlier very

common in religious proceedings is now being banned in many temples for being “polluting

and dirtying” (McHugh 2014: 48). Additionally, ghee, mustard, and sesame are used as

cooking ingredients. Ghee often adds good taste to food (Harris 1978: 202) and is considered

nutritious, while kerosene is poisonous if inhaled (Lam et al. 2012: 414). 2 The highest caste in the Hindu caste system.


26

This idea of natural purity and the effects produced by the smokes and smells create a

preference list of materials to be used for offering light to the gods in which kerosene features

lowest and ghee the highest. This adds another dimension to these offerings and their social

play. Ghee is an expensive source and often it is difficult for most people to use ghee for light

dedication in their daily lives. On the other hand, kerosene is the cheapest source and people

already use it in their daily lives for their various lighting needs. The use of these sources of

light and their place on the preference list contribute to the perception of material possessions

of people and their honour and place in the society. In the earlier sections, I discussed that the

quality and quantity of light used create a worldly stratification (social stratification). Here,

the quality of light (more pure or less pure) adds a heavenly stratification to the worldly.

Those who use a purer source of light are also perceived to receive more blessing from the

gods and are closer to the divine compared to those who use a less pure source.

However, with the advent of modern technologies, bulbs and electric lamps have

started replacing the natural lamps in these religious practices. Strings of small LED bulbs

(fig. 5) or larger colourful light bulbs have now started appearing in peoples’ prayer rooms or

home temples. It is difficult to say what place electricity has on peoples’ preference lists.

However, electricity makes these daily dedications of light easier for people. Instead of

earlier fiddling with multiple containers of ghee, mustard oil, or kerosene, now dedications of

light can be made with the flick of a switch. To put it simply, electricity contained in wires,

flowing directly and automatically to the bulbs is an easier material to handle than the fluid

ghee or oil, which need to be transferred from one container to another everyday to make

dedications of light.


27

But, what about the materiality of this new form of light? Is electric light pure or impure?

There are smokes and smells associated with electricity as well. Black smoke and bad odours

are associated with electricity generated from fossil fuels. On the other hand, electricity

generated from renewable energy sources like solar lanterns has no smoke or odour. However,

most people using electricity never come in contact with its generation and therefore, with the

smokes and smells of electricity. I argue that the lack of contact with the source of electric

light makes it a neutral, non-impure source. The purity associated with light also depends on

the materiality of the source. In case of electric light none of these commonly exist for most

people using them. The sources of electricity – and their smokes and smells – do not

generally reach the gods placed in peoples’ homes (as idols and photographs), only the light

does. This gives electric light a higher place in the priority list for the sources of light

dedications. However, this does not place it higher than ghee or mustard oil. Mr. Ramesh

Singh and his wife from Bijuriya, while explaining to me the idea of evening dedications of

Figure 5: Strings of LED bulbs lighted by grid electricity dedicated to the gods in a household in Rangpur


28

light asked (knowing the I was a Bihari too) if we do the same in our home. Upon hearing my

reply that in the evening we just turn on the electric lights in the prayer room, they gave a

slightly disapproving look, which to me said – “it is not the same”. In fact, even those who

have electric lights in their prayer rooms often light ghee or mustard oil lamps to dedicate to

the gods, especially during important occasions like festivals (fig. 6). Sometimes people

choose to use only ‘purer’ or ‘purest’ forms of light on festivals which leads to a fall in

electricity consumption (Indian Express 2010). Thus, electric light is not impure but at the

same time not pure – like the light from ghee or mustard – either. Its materiality sits in the

grey area between purity and impurity.

Hinduism also has festivals like Diwali based around light. The name Diwali itself in its purer

form - Deepawali - means a ‘string or row of lamps’. Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of

prosperity, who is prayed to during Diwali, is seen synonymous to Light, as an elderly person

remarked in Sahariya – “in light, Lakshmi lives”. Peoples’ interactions with lights during the

Figure 6: Ghee lamps being dedicated to gods during Diwali festival in a room lighted up by electric lights


29

festival are deeply affected by this understanding of light as a material incarnation of the

goddess. On the day of Diwali people invite Lakshmi to their house so that they are blessed

with prosperity throughout the year. Norris (2004: 61) argues that “in orthodox Hindu

thought, the material world is perceived to be ultimately an illusion, Maya”. However, it is

also acknowledged that as long as one is a part of the material world, one must carry out

activities that generate and propagate materiality and the material world. As an integral part

of the material world, people try to light their homes as much as possible to welcome

Lakshmi and welcome prosperity and material wealth. Considering the importance and

association of light with Diwali, in the past governments have been known to extend

assurances of no power cuts at least on the day of Diwali (Joshi 2011; Indian Express 2011).

It is believed that Lakshmi is attracted to, and visits the lighted homes and skips the dark

homes. As opposed to this, goddess Alakshmi, the anti of Lakshmi epitomises “poverty, ill

luck and destruction” and is attracted to darkness (Redij & Joglekar 2011: 114).


30

Elderly men in Rangpur and Sahariya villages also recounted to me the significance of

Lakshmi and Alakshmi (in Bihar also known as Daridra). The linkage of Lakshmi to the

increase in material wealth and Alkshmi to the decrease in material wealth and their

relationships to light and dark often leads to unspoken competitions among neighbours (fig.

7). Even among migrant Hindus in Fiji, Kelly (1988: 44) recounts, Diwali led to competitive

lighting. More and more light is used to attract Lakshmi and at the same time drive away

Alakshmi. However, light, on Diwali, are also produced for the earthly. As in case of light

and honour discussed in section 4, lighting the house during Diwali, in addition to painting

and decorating, also connects to honour, as it becomes a signifier of the material capacities of

the household. Edensor & Millington (2009: 113) argue that Christmas “produces the desire

to create a light display”. In case of Diwali, there is a compulsion to produce lights – to

address the earthly and the divine. To the earthly it is a demonstration of material wealth and

to the divine an invitation for creation of material wealth.

Figure 7: Diwali lighting in Lakhisarai town


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8 Why are cultures of lights critical

Through the discussions around three key themes – honour, hospitality and religious beliefs –

this paper has unpicked some entanglements between culture and lights in Indian villages and

argued that these entanglements are mediated by materiality. As in Physics, where light is

seen as having the binary properties of particle and wave, this paper sees the binary properties

of light as material and non-material. As light interacts with culture, its importance grows

substantially and unravels in many different ways. In its interactions with culture, the non-

material light indicates material possession. Light itself gets materiality due to various

cultural notions. After all, Anderson & Wylie (2009: 322) argue that “any actually existing

matter can be enacted according to the properties, and capacities that we associate with a rage

of elements”. This fluidity of materials and materialitities, and their adoption of various states

and properties, can be seen in light’s material and non-material performances.

It is important to understand this fluidity of light as it takes various ‘shapes’ depending on the

cultural contexts. Since, materialities have “very specific temporalities and spatialities”

(Anderson & Tolia-Kelly 2004: 669), the interactions of lights with culture, in specific spaces

and at specific times, create specific effects – both material and non-material. Light, its type,

quality and quantity, by indicating the material possessions of the household and contributing

to hospitality, create a non-material effect, honour (for self and others). The materials used

for light contribute to the materiality of light – its purity or impurity –, but ultimately

contribute to non-material notions of belief. However, this connection raises question about

the modern forms of light like electric light. How do ancient beliefs interact with modern

forms of light? Although often used to make dedications of light to gods, electricity is left in

a grey area of beliefs – neither impure nor pure – and there is a need to shed more light on

this.


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The materialities and sensibilities of light presented in this paper also indicate a politics and

the “productive powers” (Tolia-Kelly 2012: 154) of light. Due to the notion of honour, and

this requiring public display of lights and ‘better lights’, often those who occupy, or are able

to occupy, public spaces – men in these villages – benefit from the ‘better lights’. This brings

a discrimination within the home, a politics of home to light that needs further exploration.

The contribution to honour reveals the “productive powers” of light that reproduce existing

social structures and create new ones. “An attunement to matter” helps ground the politics of

inclusion and exclusion in the “human geographies of inequality” (Anderson & Tolia-Kelly

2004: 672). Therefore, it is important to understand “the ‘material ways’ in which power

relations are lived and experienced” (ibid.). This is another strand that requires further

exploration.

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Cultures of lights