Bookshelf
| can't find it |

| browse books |
books
 

| book details |

Religion and Commodification: 'Merchandizing' Diasporic Hinduism

By (author) Vineeta Sinha

| on special |

normal price: R 2 568.95

Price: R 2 439.95


| book description |

Sustaining a Hindu universe at an everyday life level requires an extraordinary range of religious specialists and ritual paraphernalia. At the level of practice, devotional Hinduism is an embodied religion and grounded in a materiality, that makes the presence of specific physical objects (which when used in worship also carry immense ritual and symbolic load) an indispensable part of its religious practices. Traditionally, both services and objects required for worship were provided and produced by occupational communities. The almost sacred connection between caste groups and occupation/profession has been clearly severed in many diasporic locations, but importantly in India itself. As such, skills and expertise required for producing an array of physical objects in order to support Hindu worship have been taken over by clusters of individuals with no traditional, historical connection with caste-related knowledge. Both the transference and disconnect just noted have been crucial for the ultimate commodification of objects used in the act of Hindu worship, and the emergence of an analogous commercial industry as a result. These developments condense highly complex processes that need careful conceptual explication, a task that is exciting and carries enormous potential for theoretical reflections in key fields of study. Using the lens of ‘visuality’ and ‘materiality,’ Sinha offers insights into the everyday material religious lives of Hindus as they strive to sustain theistic, devotional Hinduism in diasporic locations--particularly Singapore, Malaysia, and Tamilnadu--where religious objects have become commodified.

| product details |



Normally shipped | This title will be printed on demand for your order. Delivery will be 6 weeks or less.
Publisher | Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published date | 27 Jul 2012
Language |
Format | Paperback / softback
Pages | 242
Dimensions | 229 x 152 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 450g
ISBN | 978-0-4156-5145-5
Readership Age |
BISAC | social science / sociology of religion


| other options |



Normally shipped | Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 14 days
Readership Age |
Normal Price | R 3 009.95
Price | R 2 858.95 | on special |



| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future

Mustafa Suleyman
Paperback / softback
352 pages
was: R 295.95
now: R 265.95
Stock is usually dispatched in 6-12 days from date of order


Helgoland: The Strange and Beautiful Story of Quantum Physics

Carlo Rovelli
Paperback / softback
208 pages
was: R 295.95
now: R 265.95
Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 3 to 6 weeks


The Order of Time

Carlo Rovelli
Paperback / softback
224 pages
was: R 295.95
now: R 265.95
Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 3 to 6 weeks

Originally published in Italian: L'ordine del tempo (Milan: Adelphi Edizioni, 2017).