Abstract
What Weber regarded as the central features of modernisation—bureaucratisation, industralisation, rationalisation, urbanisation and finally, secularisation—underlie the thematic structure of the book; although the Weberian secularisation thesis that modernisation creates problems for religion needs a careful and nuanced examination, like the essays in this volume attempt.
To Geoffrey Oddie and Will Sweetman, the consolidation of Hinduism as a unifying identity owes to modernity, which they mainly attribute to British colonialism. Implicit in their argument is the dialectics of the self and other, where a diffused set of ideas and traditions became consolidated as the natives of the subcontinent came into contact with other cultures and civilisations, especially Islam and the West. The formation of Hindu identity and its elevation as a world religion, as Oddie and Sweetman argue in their respective chapters, is not only self-actualised but is also constructed by outsiders. In a similar vein, Robert Eric Frykenberg emphasises the two strands of politicised Hinduism against the backdrop of modernity, which he calls ‘progressive and reformist’ and ‘radically romantic and reactionary’ is personified by Hindutva (p. 101). He gives a historiography of Hindutva, a revisionist movement, peddling the idea of pristine past and sacralising the totalitarian Hindu identity in national politics. The idea of pan-Hinduism in popular consciousness also owes to the systematisation of the Hindu legal system, although Lubin sees the first Hindu code of law, Dharmasastra, as a logical outcome of the colonial processes. In his chapter, Timothy Lubin describes the progression of Hindu law traversing the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial period, and its implication on the theory and praxis of Hinduism; interestingly, Lubin briefly mentions the inherent tension and strength of Hindu laws as negotiated by the Hindu diaspora in their respective adoptive countries.
Thomas Birtchnell, in his chapter, subtly critiques the universalising notion of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship and religiosity as a modernising effect emergent in the Protestant West. As Birtchnell argues, the practice of Hinduism engenders a wide networking of economic circuits, institutions and exchanges, and he identifies four important economic dimensions: infrastructure, values, mediators and developments. But the positioning of Hindu values in global business and trade, inevitably as a soft power, through yoga, meditation and other eastern spirituality owes to the emergence of an entrepreneurial class and fanning out of the Indian diaspora. Rao’s chapter expands the notion that Hindu values mediated through the electronic media where the adherents and devotees are recreating and reimagining the notion of sacred space; here, the sacred geography, deities and religious themes, according to Rao, are transcending the confinement of past tradition, thereby diversifying religious experiences. Michael James Spur’s analysis of modern guru phenomenon underlies the global success of Hinduism; he sees the modern guru movement as a rupture from the traditional hereditary role and a move towards a Weberian charismatic leadership impelled by an emotionalist, periodic Hindu reformations. He emphasises the eclectic nature of Indian guru movements which channel age-old Hindu teachings but adapt to the fast-changing ideals of modernity.
Vinay Kumar Srivastava compares and contrasts the ‘book view’ and ‘field view’ of caste dynamics, besides explicating conceptual categories of caste, varna and jati. However, in tandem, he underscores the modernising influence on Hindu society, thereby affecting caste hierarchy: caste consciousness persists widely, according to Srivastava, although the Weberian features of modernity have opened up new issues and debates on Hinduism and caste.
Aditya Malik’s chapter on folk Hinduism transcends the dichotomy of Great and Little traditions. He argues that writing and orality existed side by side, and this process is observed not only in the mainstream Sanskritic tradition, but regional and local traditions have imbibed both the aspects of knowledge, which is reflected in local deities, myths and legends. However, he significantly notes that it is folk Hinduism which gives ebullience to the otherwise conventional and regimented Hindu tradition. Fabrizio M. Ferrari lucidly connects a mainstream and folk Hinduism through healing practices, often seen as a continuum. Drawing from a wide range of healing and therapeutic practices in Hinduism, Ferrari argues that the notion of health, illness and wellbeing have witnessed considerable changes contingent on the medical pluralism inherent in Hindu tradition. Elizabeth Schömbucher’s chapter evinces the diverse cultural understanding of possession in Hinduism, which she contrasts with the Western thought on possession. Although possession, according to Schömbucher, is interpretive and contextual, the positioning of the supernatural agents in relation to human beings generates a wide range of performative actions, symbols and experiences.
Reshmi Lahiri-Roy observes that urbanisation has not only affected the traditional Hindu marriage but it has also changed gender roles and expectations. The chapter draws from both the traditional and contemporary discourses on marriage in Hindu society eliciting the paradoxical nature of Hindu marriage in middle-and upper middle-class families, and highlights the emerging trends in Hindu marriages in urban settings. However, Hindu marriages of diasporic origin, according to Lahiri-Roy, are less attended to, and thus represent a new terrain in family and marriage studies in Hindu society. The emphasis on the Hindu diaspora runs through the entire book, thus reinforcing the idea of Hinduism as a transnational and globalised religion. The book, in essence, is on Hinduism and modernity; and as Sweetman aptly puts, ‘Sanatana dharma—which modern Hindus refer to as pristine, eternal and unchanging faith—is in itself a modern phenomenon’ (p. 24).