The Camphor Flame : Popular Hinduism and Society in India - Revised and Expanded Edition

Popular Hinduism is shaped, above all, by worship of a multitude of powerful divine beings--a superabundance indicated by the proverbial total of 330 million gods and goddesses. The fluid relationship between these beings and humans is a central theme of this rich and accessible study of popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India. Lucidly organized and skillfully written, The Camphor Flame brings clarity to an immensely complicated subject. C. J. Fuller combines ethnographic case studies with comparative anthropological analysis and draws on textual and historical scholarship as well. The book's new afterword brings the study up-to-date by examining the relationship between popular Hinduism and contemporary Hindu nationalism. Kathleen M. Erndl - Journal of Asian Studies The Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book. Popular Hinduism is shaped, above all, by worship of a multitude of powerful divine beings -- a superabundance indicated by the proverbial total of 330 million gods and goddesses. The fluid relationship between these beings and humans is a central theme of this rich and accessible study of popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India. Lucidly organized and skillfully written, The Camphor Flame brings clarity to an immensely complicated subject. C. J. Fuller combines ethnographic case studies with comparative anthropological analysis and draws on textual and historical scholarship as well. The book's new afterword brings the study up-to-date by examining the relationship between popular Hinduism and contemporary Hindu nationalism. Cover Frontmatter CONTENTS MAPS AND TABLES PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION PREFACE NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION NOTE ON DOCUMENTATION Chapter 1. POPULAR HINDUISM AND INDIAN SOCIETY Chapter 2. GODS AND GODDESSES Chapter 3. WORSHIP Chapter 4. SACRIFICE Chapter 5. RITUALS O F KINGSHIP Chapter 6. RITUALS OF THE VILLAGE Chapter 7. DEVOTIONALIST MOVEMENTS Chapter 8. DEVOTIONALISM , GODDESSES, AND WOMEN Chapter 9. PILGRIMAGE Chapter 10. MISFORTUNE Chapter 11. CONCLUSION Afterword POPULAR HINDUISM AND HINDU NATIONALISM APPENDIX THE HINDU CALENDAR GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX