ABSTRACT
Religious sites in India are not usually perceived as autonomous or isolated entities in the religious landscape. Rather, they are regarded as part of a larger network, as being related to other locations and cults. In churches, temples, mosques and other places of religious significance we usually find various references to other shrines and holy places which depict such relations. Among different modes of representation, public processions are a means to link two or more religious sites and their respective cults with each other. Taking the Catholic shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Velankanni, southern India, as an example, the referential mechanisms apparent in such processions are investigated. It is argued that the establishment and affirmation of ties thus achieved between religious sites is part of the positioning process in which different sites compete for recognition and status in the eyes of the public. The case of Velankanni shows that this process does not end in simply linking one locally rooted cult to another of comparatively higher status in order to participate in its prestige. Moreover, a rereading of the relationship may facilitate a reversal of the perceived status hierarchy, placing the local shrine in the most prestigious position.
