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

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Princeton University Press, Jun 5, 2018 - Religion - 368 pages

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.

 

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Popular Hinduism and Indian Society
3
CHAPTER 2 Gods and Goddesses
29
CHAPTER 3 Worship
57
CHAPTER 4 Sacrifice
83
CHAPTER 5 Rituals of Kingship
106
CHAPTER 6 Rituals of the Village
128
CHAPTER 7 Devotionalist Movements
155
CHAPTER 8 Devotionalism Goddesses and Women
182
CHAPTER 10 Misfortune
224
CHAPTER 11 Conclusion
253
AFTERWORD Popular Hinduism and Hindu Nationalism
262
APPENDIX The Hindu Calendar
291
GLOSSARY
295
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE
301
BIBLIOGRAPHY
313
INDEX
337

CHAPTER 9 Pilgrimage
204

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About the author (2018)

C. J. Fuller is Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His books include Servants of the Goddess (Cambridge) and The Renewal of the Priesthood (Princeton).

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