Healing through Faith: Psychological Impact, Spiritual and Social Resilience of Widowhood in Vrindavan

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the change of social exclusion into religiously mediated inclusion among
widows in Vrindavan, India. Through feminist ethnography, biographical narratives, and participant
observation, it illustrates how widows, often excluded by patriarchal norms, economic disenfranchisement, and
familial abandonment, reinterpret their identities through ritual practice, sacred speech, and symbolic
religiosity centered around Krishna devotion. Widows reconstruct identities and attain psychological
resilience. While Vrindavan provides spiritual refuge and symbolic religious empowerment, inclusion is limited by
Hindu scriptures, traditional beliefs, and economic precarity. The study builds on the foundational
understanding of social exclusion and extends the discourse by examining the mental health dimensions of
widowhood, challenging stereotypical depictions of widowhood by emphasizing the widows' resilience, their coping
mechanisms and their social inclusion within complex socio-religious surroundings. Thematic analysis reveals
important features that suggests religiosity as bridge that binds both spiritual and psychological coping
mechanism that transforms pain into purpose within the sacred geography of Vrindavan, including religious
embodiment, and economic engagement via holy labour.
Keywords: Social exclusion, Widowhood, Vrindavan, Krishna, Psychological impact, Spiritual resilience.