(Paperback, Revised and Expanded Edition)

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. This title combines ethnographic case studies with comparative anthropological analysis and draws on textual and historical scholarship as well.

(Paperback)

Shows that traditionalism and modernity reinforce each other among the priests at the Minakshi Temple. This book also shows that the priests have become more 'professional' and modern-minded while also insisting on the legitimacy of tradition. It concludes by critiquing the analysis of modernity and tradition in social science.