Religion in India

This book will encourage readers to reflect on religious and secular engagements and help uncover how they connect to the larger world of law, entertainment, civic life, and everyday cultural practices.

List of contents

• Acknowledgements


• Preface


• Introduction: What is Religion?


• 1: Religion, Modernity, Identity


• 2: Religion as Practice


• 3: Caste, Sect, and Religion


• 4: Law and Religion


• 5: Media and Religious Publics


• Nation and Religion: Into the 21st Century


• Bibliography and Further Readings


• Index

About the author

Varuni Bhatia is a historian of religion, specializing in modern Hinduism and Bhakti traditions. Her first book, Unforgetting Chaitanya: Vaishnavism and Cultures of Devotion in Colonial Bengal (Oxford University Press, 2017), explored how Bengali Vaishnava traditions were transformed and integrated into middle-class, cultural nationalist frameworks. Her ongoing research looks at the emergence of Hindu esotericism as an integral aspect of Hindu modernity, with a focus on Hindu nationalism and anti-colonial movements from the same period. She has also published articles on digital Hinduism, especially how popular beliefs and practices continue to proliferate over social media platforms and influence everyday religious practices.

Product details

• Authors: Varuni Bhatia, Varuni (Associate Professor of History Bhatia
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 30.07.2025
• EAN: 9780198958345
• ISBN: 978-0-19-895834-5
• No. of pages: 208
• Series: Oxford India Short Introductions Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Ethnology > Folklore; Sociology, RELIGION / History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, RELIGION / Religion, Politics & State, Sociology: customs & traditions, RELIGION / Fundamentalism, comparative religion, RELIGION / Comparative Religion, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions, India, History of Religion, Religion & politics, Religion and Politics, Religious Fundamentalism, Cultural studies: customs and traditions