AN ETHNOGRAPHIC INQUIRY TOWARDS ‘HARE-RAMA HARE-KRISHNA’ RELIGIOUS TOURISTS FOOD CONSUMPTION HABITS WHILE ON A HOLIDAY IN INDIA

Abstract

Food functions as a medium through which we encounter the world. We consume food based on our society’s paramount attitudes towards nature, religious beliefs and nutritional benefits rather than just according to our needs. In this research, the author studied a group of Hare Krishna tourists belonging to ISKCON religious movement of Hindu religion. There are several studies done on the western vegetarian groups based primarily on their ethical, environmental and health-based vegetarian food habits but not many studies on the food consumption behaviour of religious tourists, especially on the Hare Krishnas’ during a holiday. This under-represented and under-researched group’s struggles and behaviour patterns will help us understand other divergent groups of vegetarians and vegans from across the world and help sensitise the tourism industry to this large group of intermingled and often confusing group of people. This ethnographical, qualitative research is focussed on reflexively studying the Hare Krishna religious tourist’s comprehension and interpretation of vegetarianism and the factors which influence their holiday destination choice. The author further strives to understand what happens to the religious food values of a Hare Krishna follower while making food choices during a holiday and whether these tourism experiences influence or transform the religious food values of this group. Food is taken to be a purely functional and supporting resource to tourism and as such tourist’s food consumption behaviour and patterns are largely ignored and neglected in tourism literature. In this research, the author adds to the limited body of knowledge of vegetarians based on their religious beliefs along with revealing the reasons, visible and invisible cues this group exhibit and are engaged in while planning their holidays and food choices.

Keywords

• Vegetarian,Hinduism,Hare Krishna,ISKCON,Religious Tourism,Ethnography

Kaynakça

1. Bessiere, J., & Tibere, L. (2013). Traditional food and tourism: French tourist experience and food heritage in rural spaces. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 93(14), 3420-3425.
2. Brooks, C. R. (1989). The Hare Krishnas in India. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.
3. Brooks, C. R. (1992). ‘Gaudiya Vaisnavism in the modern world’ in Rosen, S. J. (ed.) Vaisnavism: Contemporary scholars discuss the Gaudiya tradition. Folk Books: New York.
4. Dewan, M. (2018). Understanding Ethnography: An ‘Exotic’ Ethnographer’s Perspective. In: Mura P., Khoo-Lattimore C. (eds) Asian Qualitative Research in Tourism. Perspectives on Asian Tourism. (1st ed.) (pp.185-203), Springer, Singapore
5. Flood, G. D. (1996). An introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press.
6. Godfrey, K., & Clarke, J. (2000). The tourism development handbook: a practical approach to planning and marketing. Burns & Oates.
7. Guba, E. G. (1996). What happened to me on the way to Damascus. In L. Heshusius & K. Ballard (Eds.), From positivism to interpretivism and beyond: Tales of transformation in educational and social research (pp. 43-49). New York: Teachers College Press.
8. Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2005). Paradamic Contrivaeries, contradictions and emerging confluences. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 191-215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

9. Gupta, V. (1999). Sustainable tourism: learning from Indian religious traditions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 11(2/3).
10. Ignatov, E., & Smith, S. (2006). Segmenting Canadian culinary tourists. Current Issues in Tourism, 9(3), 235. Judah, S. (1974). Hare Krishna and the counterculture. Wiley: New York.
11. Kim, Y. G., Eves, A., & Scarles, C. (2009). Building a model of local food consumption on trips and holidays: A grounded theory approach. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 423-431.
12. Kivela, J., & Crotts, J. C. (2006). Tourism and gastronomy: Gastronomy's influence on how tourists experience a destination. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 30(3), 354-377.
13. Kivela, J. J., & Crotts, J. C. (2009). Understanding travelers' experiences of gastronomy through etymology and narration. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 33(2), 161-192.
14. Long, L. M. (2013). Culinary tourism. In Encyclopedia of food and agricultural ethics (pp. 1-8). Springer Netherlands.
15. Majumder, S. K. (1972). Vegetarianism: Fad, Faith, or Fact? The ecological and nutritional aspects of vegetarianism are appraised against the backdrop of the current world scene. American scientist, 60(2), 175-179.
16. Mak, A. H., Lumbers, M., Eves, A., & Chang, R. C. (2012). Factors influencing tourist food consumption. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 928-936.
17. Nath, J. (2010). ‘God is a vegetarian’: The food, health and bio-spirituality of Hare Krishna, Buddhist and Seventh-Day Adventist devotees. Health Sociology Review, 19(3), 356-368.
18. Nield, K., Kozak, M., & LeGrys, G. (2000). The role of food service in tourist satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 19(4), 375-384.
19. Pattanaik, A. (1996). Changing trends in dietetics. Ancient science of life, 16 (1), 62.
20. Ponterotto, J. G. (2005). Qualitative research in counseling psychology: A primer on research paradigms and philosophy of science. Journal of counseling psychology, 52(2), 126.
21. Rochford Jr, E. B. (1995). Family structure, commitment, and involvement in the Hare Krishna movement. Sociology of Religion, 56(2), 153-175.
22. Rosen, S. J. (1992). Vaisnavism: Contemporary scholars discuss the Gaudiya tradition. Folk Books: New York.
23. Ryu, K., & Jang, S. (2006). Intention to experience local cuisine in a travel destination: The modified theory of reasoned action. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 30(4), 507-516.
24. Sheldon, P. J., & Fox, M. (1988). The role of foodservice in vacation choice and experience: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. Journal of Travel Research, 27(2), 9-15.
25. Stiles, B. (1998). Vegetarianism: Identity and experiences as factors in food selection. Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, 26(2), 213-226.
26. Torres, R. (2002). Toward a better understanding of tourism and agriculture linkages in the Yucatan: Tourist food consumption and preferences. Tourism Geographies, 4(3), 282-306.
27. Vukonic, B. (1996) ‘Tourism and Religion’, Pergamon, New York.
28. Wolcott, H.F. (1987). On ethnographic intent. In Spindler, G., & Spindler, L. (Eds), Interpretive ethnography of education: At home and abroad, 19(1), 37-51.
29. York, M. (2002). Contemporary Pagan pilgrimages. From medieval pilgrimage to religious tourism: The social and cultural economics of piety, 137-158.