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The Emergence of Modern Hinduism

Religion on the Margins of Colonialism

Richard S. Weiss

Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Published: 08/2019
Pages: 222
Subject: History, Religion | University of California
Print ISBN: 9780520307056
eBook ISBN: 9780520973749

DESCRIPTION

The Emergence of Modern Hinduism argues for the importance of regional, vernacular innovation in processes of Hindu modernization. Scholars usually trace the emergence of modern Hinduism to cosmopolitan reform movements, producing accounts that overemphasize the centrality of elite religion and the influence of Western ideas and models. In this study, the author considers religious change on the margins of colonialism by looking at an important local figure, the Tamil Shaiva poet and mystic Ramalinga Swami (1823–1874). Weiss narrates a history of Hindu modernization that demonstrates the transformative role of Hindu ideas, models, and institutions, making this text essential for scholarly audiences of South Asian history, religious studies, Hindu studies, and South Asian studies.

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