This volume contains nineteen short articles and a short story, all but two of which have been published previously, dating from 1966 to 2006. The editors' introduction opens with a depiction of events at the dawn of 2004, including India's economic growth, New Year's rites at various Bangalore temples and other religious sites, the growth of Hindu transnationalism, and the continuing reverberations of communal violence. The introduction further addresses the development of the term “Hinduism” itself, identifies five strands in the life of Hinduism (doctrine, practice, society, story and performance, and bhakti or devotion), and concludes with an overview of the articles that follow.
The articles are presented in eight parts: worship, the life cycle, festival, performance, gurus, caste, diaspora, and identity. Through their selection of essays, the editors seek to present a portrait of “lived” Hinduism, illustrating both those aspects that continue relatively unchanged despite rapid sociocultural and economic...
