Contents

Preface ix

List of illustrations and maps xiii

1 On Wearing Good Lenses 1

Lenses used through the years 2

Pejorative putdown 2

Romanticism 4

“Noble savage” 6

Interpretation by imposition 7

“Benign neglect” 9

On understanding the “nature” of religion 10

Recommended reading 12

2 Sources of Indian Religion 14

Hunting communities 15

Agricultural communities 16

The “Indo-European” influence 20

The Vedic period 21

The ritual system 23

Hymns and commentaries 26

Recommended reading 28

3 The Early Urban Period 30

The Upanisads 31

The “heterodoxies” 36

Jainism 37

Early Buddhism 41

Recommended reading 48

4The Urban Period 51

The context 52

Kingship and artha 56

Theism: Buddhist and vaidika 56

Devotionalism 60

Articulation of an "urban" ethic 61

The household 63

The role of women 63

Jati or caste 66

The symbolism of food 67

Yoga 68

Summary 69

The epics 69

Aesthetics and the arts 72

Religious life at the popular level 76

Developments in Buddhism 78

Kingship 79

Ethics 79

Attitude toward city-state 79

Pantheon 79

Iconography 80

Sacred spaces 80

Recommended reading 84

Timeline of Chapter 4 86

5The Post-classical Period 87

South India 87

Bhakti 90

The emergence of temples 93

The Co]as 96

Deities as reflections of cultural history 100

Philosophical developments 102

Saiva Siddhanta 102

Vedanta 103

North India 107

Temple construction 108

Tantrism 109

The rise of the goddesses to "high deity" status 111

Buddhism and Jainism 114

Recommended reading 116

6 The Coming of Islam 122

The origins of Islam 123

Sunnis and Shi'is 124

Islam in India 125

The political context 127

Diversity of Islam in India 131

Sunnis 131

Shi'is 132

Sufism 133

Recommended reading 136

7 Developments in the Late Medieval Period 137

Orthopraxy 137

Hindu polities 138

Devotionalism 141

Marathi 142

Bengali 144

Hindi 145

Accommodation and appropriation 150

Conversion 152

Syncretism 154

Sikhism 156

Recommended reading 159

Timeline of Chapters 6 and 7 161

8 Streams from the "West" and their Aftermath 162

Religious minorities 163

Jewish communities 163

“Cochin Jews” 163

Bene Israel 165

Syrian Christians 166

Zoroastrians or Parsis 168

The “colonial impact” 171

The Portuguese, British and other Europeans 171

The Indian response 175

Stage one 176

Stage two 178

Neo-bhakti 179

Muslim responses to coloniality 181

Inter-religious relations: conciliation and confrontation 183

Pre-independence India 186

Recommended reading 189

9 Religion in Contemporary India 193

The context 193

The practice of religion 197

Pilgrimages and festivals 197

Varanasi 198

Pajani, Tamil Nadu 200

Festivals 201

Makara Vilakku, Sabaramala, Kerala 201

Bonalu, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 202

Festivals in other religious communities 205

The shrine or temple as the focus of religious expression 206

Ritual in other religious communities 209

Religious innovation, hybridization, and reinterpretation 210

The changing faces of deities 210

Conversions of another kind 212

Gurus and their movements 214

The Brahmakumarls 214

The Satya Sai Baba movement 216

The resurgent right 217

Recommended reading 221

10 India's Global Reach 224

Greater India in Asia 224

The westward impetus 228

Early contacts 228

The colonial period 230

The modern era 232

The emigration of South Asians 236

Recommended reading 245

Glossary 248

Notes 260

Index 275