Ritual Revision During a Crisis: The Case of Indian Religious Rituals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rituals, particularly religious rituals, may play a significant role in times of crises. Often, these rituals undergo revision to adapt the changing needs time. This article investigates recent unofficially revised Hindu as performed during COVID-19 pandemic. The multifarious creative interplay between tradition and change is illustrated through four cases: festival Durga Puja, devotional songs or bhajans, ritual lighting lamps diyas, fire havans. authors offer systematic discourse analysis online news articles YouTube posts that illuminate several aspects unsettled times. They focus on changes were made elements: who controlled alterations, how modifications made, what potential benefits revisions offered community participants. highlight public policy implications regarding involvement diverse social actors, creation faith science, feelings unity agency, amplification local national scale.