Festival "noise" and soundscape politics in Mumbai, India

Issues of soundscape hold special significance in the daily lives of residents of Mumbai, India. "Noise pollution" has become an integral concept in how many Mumbaikars understand and frame auditory experiences of the city, and anxieties over sound figure prominently in public discourse, with local news media and Bombay High Court legal proceedings often fervently debating over the topic. Unlike other large cities with high ambient decibel levels, however, Mumbai's noise pollution most visibly (and audibly) concerns sound from religious sources, most notably Hindu religious festivals taking place during a lengthy "festival season". Close examination of this "festival noise" situation reveals a vastly intricate system involving political strategy, community imagination and labour politics.