Patronage and 'community': The role of a Tamil 'village' festival in the integration of a town

Focusing on the festival of 'village' goddesses in two small towns in Tamil nadu, South India, the article investigates how the urban organization of t emples and festivals reflects characteristics of the organization of simila r festivals in villages, whilst at the same rime the 'acts of patronage' pa tronage' of wealthy local industrialists increasingly shape the nature of t he 'community' generated at festival and other times. Building on idioms of village community and precolonial kingship models, industrialists are cent ral to the formation of a sense of community which transcends the borders o f caste and class. It is argued that the formation of community boundaries cannot be understood outside the context of the wider social and economic r elationships and, in this case, the labour relations which Lie at the heart of South Indian textile industries.