The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India
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...
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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.
Ch. 1Popular Hinduism and Indian society3Ch. 2Gods and Goddesses29Ch. 3Worship57Ch. 4Sacrifice83Ch. 5Rituals of kingship106Ch. 6Rituals of the village128Ch. 7Devotionalist movements155Ch. 8Devotionalism, goddesses, and women182Ch. 9Pilgrimage204Ch. 10Misfortune224Ch. 11Conclusion253Afterword : popular Hinduism and Hindu nationalism262AppThe Hindu calendar291
\ Journal of Asian StudiesThe Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.\ — Kathleen M. Erndl\ \ \ \ \ Journal of the American Academy of Religion[A]n excellent book. . . . [M]uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike.\ — William S. Sax\ \ \ Journal of Asian StudiesThe Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.\ \ \ \ \ Journal of the American Academy of Religion[A]n excellent book. . . . [M]uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike.\ \ \ \ \ Journal of Asian StudiesThe Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.\ — Kathleen M. Erndl\ \
