ABSTRACT
Religious procession is a significant dimension of religious life in South Asia and this ritual tradition is perpetuated in the South Asian diasporas. Processions have become important occasions for large groups of several different South Asian religious communities to gather together for a religious purpose. These processions bring people together in order to put religion and religious identity on display. People moving with sacred objects on public streets make their religious traditions, their identities and their concerns visible to each other and to an audience. Processions also make visible the size of the groups and in this way confirm collective identities and ambitions for influence and power. Procession is a phenomenon of increasing importance in the South Asian diasporas, including the diasporas in Norway. Since the mid-1990s several procession rituals have been institutionalized with great success.
