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This paper examines religious syncretism in India's Northeast with reference to reformed Heraka. It is perceived, contact of different cultural practices enforces natives to reinterpret and redefined beliefs and practices in conformation to appropriated culture. Historically, birth of Heraka was rooted in resistance against the British occupation, Christian proselytisation and intrusion of other neighbouring communities. To retain indigenous religious practices, reformation took its turn with introduction of new set of rules. In the flow, Heraka appropriated temple, idol and pilgrimage culture into its fold, and scrutinised Christian proselytisation under its radar. In its essence, Heraka is the by-product of Paupai-tenase, Christianity and Hinduism. This paper assesses through constructivist paradigm on how Heraka is perceived to be or not to be of indigenous religion. It is argued that there is a dilution in claim reformed religion, though, has reformed old practices, but with amalgamation in the construction of syncretic religious identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is an attempt to unpack the famous "Hindutva verdict" of 1995, by specifically paying attention to the construction of culture and its relationship with Hinduism in India. The verdict opens up an avenue to think afresh about the relationship between the state and religion in the context of Hinduism, supporting me to argue that the question of (religious) authority for Hinduism is distinctly connected to secular sovereignty unlike in the case of Islam or Christianity. This in turn suggests that there is no authoritative distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva since these discourses are the products of the state's ongoing effort to define Hinduism as the context demands. The practice of the state in authorizing acts, attitudes, norms, and sensibilities that are deemed Hindu is encased in the construct of culture and its various enunciations such as legal and rhetoric. One must attend to the genealogy of culture in order to understand the nature of authority in Hinduism as well as the form of sovereignty recognized and exercised in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors should be congratulated for writing about 'critical religion'. Whatever else critical religion might or might not be, nothing could be more important than a critical inquiry into the categories that powerfully organise our knowledge and our institutions, including our universities. By publishing in a major journal, the JAAR, they bring into the mainstream significant topics that are habitually marginalised. They raise many valid points for public debate. Their article, however, is marred by reification and contradiction. To squeeze their generalisations into one journal article, the authors set up Russell McCutcheon, Craig Martin and Timothy Fitzgerald as the core of an imaginary school, and then when they stumble on a possible disagreement between us, they accuse us of inconsistency. Speaking for myself, I explain why I have habitually used the term 'critical religion' to refer to my own work, and why I have recently considered abandoning it. I point out that the authors never properly discuss the genesis of the discourse on the non-religious secular, which is fundamental to any serious attempt to understand 'critical religion'. They ignore my work on India and Japan. They nowhere discuss a central core of my own position, that religion is a member of a configuration of empty categories, including politics, nature, economy, and nation, a signalling system that is the source of hegemonic power and the illusions of enlightenment modernity. However, these shortcomings should not deter us from taking forward their work as a positive opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hinduism is considered one of the most ancient religions in the world. Although the technological innovation of modernization has undermined the reliance on their traditions, Hindus may still rely on Hindu Scripture when making decisions. From their standpoint, contrary to Western medicine, human lives cannot be reduced to statistical and empirical facts. They focus more on preserving the spirit, rather than considering survival as one of the goals of medicine. Consequently, when a preterm infant is born, Hindu parents might struggle to understand the goals of Western neonatologists. This divergence may create misunderstandings when discussing end-of-life decisions. Since they value relational aspects to be of utmost importance, they may accept treatments only in the likelihood of good neurological outcomes. Being able to interact allows Hindus to act virtuously with the aim of purifying their soul toward moksa. When it comes to end-of-life decisions on behalf of newborns, Hindu parents may opt to forgo treatments and let the baby peacefully die, while praying for their soul to have a better rebirth. This paper aims to evaluate quality-of-life assessment in the Hindu tradition in comparison with the Catholic tradition. It draws parallelisms between these two different religions to investigate whether an inter-religious dialogue is possible. This work will help Catholic, and more broadly Western, doctors to have a better understanding of the Hindu end-of-life views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disability is a multifaceted and universal phenomenon that cuts across all cultures and religions. It poses unique challenges for individuals, families, and communities. It is shaped by a multitude of factors such as society, culture, economy, religion, etc. Sikhism, the fifth largest religion in the world, originated in the northern part of India in the 15th century with the first Sikh guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539). In the context of Sikhism, disability and religious teachings become important areas of exploration. This research paper attempts to understand how Sikhism addresses and engages with disability by highlighting both the theoretical foundations and practical manifestations. The theoretical foundations of Sikhism, i.e., equality, solidarity, and inclusiveness, are based on the supreme scripture Guru Granth Sahib, and the practical manifestations, i.e., rituals and norms, take their lead from Rehat Maryada, i.e., the Sikh code of conduct and conventions, which have been constructed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The present paper examines the outlook of Sikhism towards disability in theory as per Guru Granth Sahib and in practice as per Sikh Rehat Maryada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Effective educational interventions to knowledge, attitude, and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) may limit the spread of the disease. However, the relevance of HIV knowledge to followers of religions is unknown. We assessed the 2015-2016 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from India to investigate the levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists in relation to standard sociodemographic variables in India. Methods: We used the individual and household level data from the internationally and temporally harmonized cross-sectional DHS. These data were representative of the national population and were collected from January 2015 to December 2016. Results: The age range of the population was 15-54 years (n = 224,531). We found the highest level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Sikh men (than the followers of other religions (80.4%-92.7%). Conversely, Muslims and Hindus were least knowledgeable of HIV/ AIDS (80.4% and 81.2%). Younger participants (82.5%), residents of urban areas (90.6%), more educated (98.6%), never married (84.9%), wealthier (95.5%), and having more access to mass media (90.4%-96.7%) were more aware of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge. Among various religions, Sikhs were more educated (16.1% with higher education), wealthier (59.5% in the top quintile), with higher exposure to communication means than Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. Conclusion: We report that Sikh men are most knowledgeable of HIV compared to Sikh women and followers of other religions. Our findings may help formulate public health strategies targeting various religious groups to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matha is an important yet understudied public religious, political, and educational institution with wide‐ranging influence in the formation of the structures and theology of Hinduism and Jainism. Recently, scholars of South Asian religion have turned their attention to understand these institutions and their role in the creation of sectarian identity and theology, as educational and economic centers, and symbols of sovereign power. This essay is not attempting thorough historical account of ascetic institutions in India. Instead, its focus is to highlight the existing and recent scholarship on the matha to encourage more research on the topic. Therefore, this essay provides an overview of recent trends in the scholarship of mathas in India, focusing on exemplary works that have helped us to understand the history of these institutions more deeply, providing an overview of the matha through an overview of recent work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse the education and wage gaps between Hindus and Muslims over the period 1983 to 2011–2012 in India. We find that Muslims are worse off than Hindus in terms of education and this disadvantage has increased over time. Our analysis shows that the wage gap is more pronounced at the higher end of the wage distribution which we interpret as a glass ceiling effect. We find that the wage gap has increased over time and the increase is more pronounced at the upper quantiles. Our decomposition analysis shows that difference in education has a significant contribution to the Hindu-Muslim wage gap. We find that the Hindu-Muslim gaps are more pronounced in urban areas relative to rural areas. Comparing Muslims with different Hindu castes, we find that while the disadvantaged castes have improved their condition relative to Muslims over time, the condition of Muslims relative to the advantaged castes has worsened. Dividing the sample into younger (aged 16–35) and older (36–65) cohorts, we find that the Hindu-Muslim gap in education is more acute in the younger cohort while the Hindu-Muslim wage gap is more pronounced for the older cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hinduism and Buddhism share a series of elements, such as its genesis in the Indian subcontinent, common principles, iconographical expressions and even certain deities. While Buddhism declined in India and became a universal religion strongly present in several countries, Hinduism continued to flourish in its land of origin. This article synthesizes the historical relations between Buddhism and Hinduism in the Indian subcontinent, seeking to understand how similarities and tensions, from the 5th century BCE to the present day, shaped and shape both religions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the national development goals in India on poverty alleviation and to trail the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), policy makers need to have adequate information on poverty in the country. To this end the aim of this paper is to analyse the trends in multidimensional poverty at the all-India level, across geographic locations, castes and religious groups. We have used Alkire–Foster methodology to measure multidimensional poverty index (MPI) and utilized National Family Health Survey unit level data of the latest three rounds 2005–06, 2015–16 and 2019–21. To the best of our understanding this is the first paper that utilizes the latest data sets to analyse the trends of MPI in India. We have also made a comparative assessment of trends of poverty in India measured by Global MPI approach and India's MPI approach. Over the period 2005–2006 to 2019–2021 the absolute decline in MPI was larger in rural areas of India. However, the contribution to MPI in rural areas is relatively high and that increased over time. There was no evidence of reduction of inter-caste and inter-religious based disparities. There are larger doses of decline in MPI in the sub period 2015–2016 to 2019–2021 but the decline across the states of India continues to be non-regressive. The states which were worst performing in 2005–2006 continue to be the same in 2019–2021. The paper concludes that by exploring the MPI over time one can decipher the urgencies in policy development to move towards the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postcolonial democratic deepening brings new challenges to religion as a social imaginary in India. Increasing cultural differentiation and pluralization are countered by fundamentalization, but also challenge existing minority/multicultural imaginations. Religion, as the overarching identity category, has come under scrutiny given the politicization of caste among Muslims, who form the country's most significant religious minority. Through social-justice and anti-caste politics in the 1990s, lowered-caste Muslims started to enact a new identity named Pasmanda, which means "those who have been left behind". The Pasmanda discourse emphasizes internal heterogeneities and hegemonies and pluralizes the "Muslim". It thus ruptures the imaginary of Muslims as a homogeneous minority in a culturally diverse country and problematizes the majority–minority framework. An important site of contestation is the reservation (quota) policy in public employment, education, and the legislature. While privileged-caste Muslims generally prefer a quota based on religion, the lowered-caste Pasmanda Muslims increasingly mobilize for a caste-based quota, thus challenging systems of recognition and redistribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1930s Hindi short story "Mugaloṃ ne saltanat bakhś dī" ("The Mughals Gave the Sultanate Away") by self-proclaimed apolitical author Bhagavatīcaraṇ Varmā offers an alternative version of how the British Crown took the rule of India away from the Mughal Empire. An in-depth analysis of this story written during the buildup to the decolonization of India evaluates how two different kinds of what is often referred to as "outside rulers" are depicted in this story: the Mughal emperors and the British colonial rulers. This case study assesses whether the story shows a different attitude toward Mughals and the centuries-old Muslim culture in India, compared to how both historic rulers are viewed and represented by right-wing Hindu nationalists: Muslim Indians seem to be made part of the "other" rather than a part of an inclusive interpretation of the Indian "self." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every religion regards education as the most efficient means of passing on its ideas, morals, and values to the next generation of citizens. For this reason, each religion has developed its own educational system. The Madarsa education system of Islam frequently matches the educational needs of its future generations. The history of Islam's presence in India and its contributions to knowledge and culture are well-documented, enhancing the country's vast diversity of religions and cultures, for which India is well-known worldwide. In truth, it was Madarsa education in India that challenged the idea that only the wealthy should have access to education and helped the underprivileged have access to it as well. But regrettably, recent worldwide events that were negative have raised questions about the Madarsa's goals and objectives and cast a shadow over them. Every intellectual's desire to learn the true facts underlying the extraneous data has intensified as a result of this. The unfavourable and misleading perceptions of its educational institutions, or madarsa, are currently Islam's greatest global challenge. Undoubtedly, this is a really complicated problem that requires careful discussion and investigation. The goal of the current paper is to provide a broad review of Madarsa education in India from a variety of perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past six decades, there has been an ever-growing awareness of the global ecological crisis threatening human survival. Concern for the future of human life has led to the necessity of upholding environmental rights and sustainable development. As in the case of other human rights, obligations of the state that derive from these need to be complemented by civic engagements, and sustained by shared values in the societal sphere. The question that we raise is if religions can play a significant role in favouring environmental rights, civil engagements and environmental care, given that in varied ways religious traditions appeal to the interdependence of divine-human-cosmic realities. The empirical research that we undertook in the multi-religious context of Tamil Nadu, India, seeks to verify if the religious identity of the senior secondary school students and college students has some influence on their attitude towards environmental obligations, engagements and care. The results show that senior school students are highly sensitive to state's obligations and civil engagements, but their religious affiliation does not seem to influence it. Instead, college students manifest strong agreement to environmental care, with Hindus displaying higher sensitivity. Besides, variables such as transformative function of religion, religious pluralism, human dignity, and empathy have favourable association with environmental care for Christians, Muslims and Hindus. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of the predictors for eco-education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jacques Berlinerblau's "Secularism: The Basics" asks how much and what kind of state separation from religion is required to secure the multiple notions of secularism that have come to dominate debates on faith in the global context. By organizing the book around a distinct set of issues, including questions about the meanings of secularism and its appearance in different contexts that benefit liberal democracy, Berlinerblau implicitly gives voice to the continuity of the tradition of secularism for a large segment of the academic field that has been evolving for the last three decades. While opposing secularism as a monocultural phenomenon, he grapples with the normative pre-definition of political secularism that refers to legally binding actions of the secular state that seek to regulate the relationship between itself and religious citizens and between religious citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article examines the efforts of the Hindu conservatives at securing support for a law to ban cow-slaughter during the intervening years of India's Independence. It also critically examines the debate on this question in the Constituent Assembly of India. Through this examination the article notes how the Hindu conservatives prepared the ground for a law against cow-slaughter even prior to the question being debated in the Constituent Assembly. Further, it argues that by an exclusive consideration of the views of the practitioners of conservative Hindu religion, whose ideology is based on a monolithic conception of Hinduism, over cow and conversely disregarding the others' views, particularly of Islam on the same, the makers of the Constitution of India sought to impose a Hindu religious practice upon the non-believers of Hindu religion. The article also highlights the role of Ambedkar in the making of Article 48. The article is divided into three sections, wherein the first section looks at the Hindu conservatives' attempts at securing support for a law against cow slaughter, the second and third sections analyze the debate over the question of cow-slaughter in the Constituent Assembly of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The belief on the Indian epic such as “Ramayana” depends on the religion, culture and education system of the nation and this aspect requires the attention of recent studies and policymakers. Hence, the present research investigates the impact of religion, culture and education system of educational institutions on the Indian epic "Ramayana". Survey at several universities in Vietnam that teach the epic Ramayana in the training program specialized in Literature. Design / Methodology / approach: The survey was conducted by visiting several universities in Vietnam. In addition, the researchers distributed around 540 surveys but only 302 surveys were received. The researchers also check the data reliability and association among variables using AMOS-SPSS. Findings: Research results show that there is a close relationship between religion, culture and good moral values education in the epic "Ramayana". The outcomes also revealed that the leadership significantly moderates among religion, culture, the education system of the religious institutions and the epic of India "Ramayana". Practical Implications: This study offers a comprehensive look at the religious beliefs, Indian culture, and social and educational significance of this epic in the Indian tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using unit-level data on the entire population of registered manufacturing SMEs in 2007 for India, we explore the impact of religiosity on their access to finance. The findings indicate that certain categories of religion, such as Hindus and Sikhs, are less likely to have access to institutional credit, after accounting for other relevant factors. The disaggregated analysis suggests that these results differ across key characteristics such as SME ownership and gender and caste. In addition, the results also show SMEs for the aforesaid religious categories are less likely to use institutional credit. Therefore, our findings underscore the role and relevance of religion in influencing SMEs access to credit for a large emerging economy whose religious demography differs significantly from Western democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonial education and missionary discourse of modernity intensified struggles for continuity and change among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity in nineteenth century India. While missionary modernity was characterised by an emphasis on sociocultural changes among the marginalized women through Christian norms of decency, orthodox Hindus used traditional cultural practices to confront missionary modernization endeavours. This article posits that the discourse of missionary modernity needs to be understood through the principles of Western secular modernity that impelled missionaries to employ decent clothing as a symbol of Christian femininity. It argues that missionary modernity not only emboldened the marginalized women to challenge their ascribed sociocultural standing but also solidified communitarian consciousness among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity substantially. Even though Travancore state defended the entrenched customary practices, including women's attire patterns, with all its potency through authoritative proclamations, it could not dissuade missionaries from converting the marginalized women to missionary modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading scholars attribute extraordinary achievements to Roberto de Nobili, an Italian Jesuit who worked in a Catholic mission in South India in the seventeenth century. De Nobili is not only said to have enabled the "accommodation" of Indian and, by implication, Hindu social and cultural traditions in the community of converted Christians by distinguishing "religious" from "civil" practices and meanings in the lives of the so-called Gentiles. Through his engagement in the translation and hermeneutic mediation between European and Indian languages and religions, the missionary scholar is also celebrated today for having prepared the ground for the formation of a modern, that is, universalist and pluralistic, concept of religion. The article presents an in-depth reading of original writings of de Nobili and critically discusses modern historical and philological scholarship about his work. It questions the thesis that de Nobili was the harbinger of a groundbreaking new concept of religion. Critical propositions are the following: (1) de Nobili's distinction between "religion" and "civility" was part of a strategic focus on the conversion of Brahmans in South India, not the theoretical vision of a new concept of religion. (2) Even if communicating between diverse cultures, the missionary translations embraced political contexts and scholarly paradigms that willfully invoked hostile tensions between their linguistic and cultural referents. (3) De Nobili's redefinition of "idolatry" reveals an aggressive "semiotic ideology" that seriously undermines the argument of a friendly mediation between Christians and Gentiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These observations raise questions about science as necessarily disenchanted and in conflict with religion, and what role religion plays in the everyday practice of science in an Indian context. In this thorough ethnographic study of science and religion in India, Thomas gives voice to Indian scientists and illustrates their orientation toward religious thought and practice. Thomas allows his subjects to speak at length, astutely embeds their ideas and practices within broader historical, sociological, and anthropological debates on science and religion, and is transparent about his own positionality and methodological challenges of "studying up.". [Extracted from the article]

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Aim. Religion in India continues to remain a male-bastion with men occupying positions of leadership in religious institutions and wielding inordinate control. Against this backdrop, this research analyses the recent emergence of women claiming their space in religion, with specific focus on decision making powers, accessibility to religious careers, and rights and entitlements to religious finances and accruements. Methods. The review made use of extensive and in-depth analysis of secondary sources of research and informative materials available, specifically on the subject matters of religion, women and modern feminist campaigns. Major sources utilized were newspaper articles, journal articles, scholarly research on related topics and court hearings and judgments of relevant cases. Results. The analysis reveals that there is clear progress by feminist movements in challenging inequality in religion, by demanding equal access to places of worship and questioning religious practices that exclude them. Women are calling out male leadership where they have abused their power under the guise of faith. Feminist movements are also demanding women's participation in the financial endowments that accrues to religion. Women are also making a determined entry into careers related to religion. The growing number of institutions that provide religious training to women are not only enabling women to take up priestly and other religious roles, but also equipping them to question patriarchal interpretation of scriptures. Conclusions. While the rising feminist movement towards obtaining equality within religion becomes quite apparent, one of the contributing factors could be the consistency of the judiciary in upholding the constitutional rights granted to women. Specifically, the Supreme Court, with its judgements and progressive interpretations of religious laws, has aided women in their struggle. Since the questioning of patriarchal control of religious structures is happening almost parallelly across all major religions in India, it can also be theorised that there is a rising feministic consciousness that underpins the quest for religious equality and equal treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By employing questionnaire surveys to empirically examine peer effects on religious faithfulness, this study mainly compares Muslims in Indonesia and India as examples. This study uses religious restrictions on foods as the main component of the questionnaire. A total of two variables were selected to examine peer effects: (1) the percentage of respondents' close friends who follow a different religion and (2) the percentage of people in the respondents' city who follow the same faith. Ordinary least squares/generalized least squares regression was conducted, and six models were estimated. The results reveal that Indian/Indonesian respondents are more affected by those who follow the same/different religions, respectively, suggesting that relatively smaller groups have larger peer effects on religious faithfulness. Although further investigations are required, these symmetric results may be attributed to the fact that tensions among people from different religions are high/low, and that the percentage of people who follow a different faith in the respondents' city is high/low in India and Indonesia, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1650, an encyclopedia of comparative religion known as Dabistān-i Maẕāhib (the School of Doctrines) was completed near the city of Hyderabad. Asserting that the religions of the world are reflections of a single inner truth, its author Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī, known by the poetic penname 'Mūbad', travelled widely across India to record encounters with diverse religious figures. This article re-examines the composition and legacy of the Dabistān in light of new manuscript evidence relating to its author and the world he inhabited. It argues that the Dabistān's universalist project reflects a widely held theory of the interrelatedness of the macrocosm, in which sociality with diverse populations was understood to be a spiritual exercise leading to saintly perfection in the same way that venerating the cosmos and ascetic bodily practices were. The article provides a close reading of the Dabistān's shortest chapter on the religion of the Tibetans, the earliest such description in Persian. Situating the Dabistān within the diverse expressions of 'Universal Peace' (ṣulḥ-i kull) during the Safavid and Mughal periods, it argues that the Dabistān's project of recovering a universal theology that was attributed to ancient Iran and India led to expressions of dual religious belonging—to particular religions of revelation as well as to the universal religion of the philosophers—parallel to and connected with what Jan Assmann has termed the 'religio duplex phenomenon' in early modern Europe. Finally, the article briefly traces the legacy of the Dabistān into the modern period. The free do not think of religion, doctrine, and spiritual guidance— Those shackled by seeking liberation are not truly free. For how long must we wander the alleyways of religion and nation?— There is no highway through the land of verification (taḥqīq) besides heresy (ilḥād). —'Mūbad' Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī (fl. 1060s ah/1650s ce) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the history of a widening distance and constructed difference between Hindi and Urdu, and their communal identification in colonial and post-colonial India. It examines how majoritarian politics has shaped the language related issues in independent India. Finally, based on limited fieldwork in the Indian city of Mumbai, this paper tries to find out what language does common people speak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geetanjali Srikantan, Identifying and Regulating Religion in India: Law, History and the Place of Worship (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), viii + 251 pp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental trepidations are global issues, environment sustainability is conceivable with the noble motive, which takes real shapes with the insights and perspectives from different religions. In the process of learning and teaching laid down by religion help to expand our understanding and develop our behavior towards nature. Role of religion to shape our attitudes to the natural world is significant, because its domination in human personality is always recognizable. The paper would like to find out different prospect to achieve environment sustainability with the help of imperatives given by Indian religion. This imparts many valuable imperatives which unify nature as an inseparable part of human life and vice versa. Three major religions originating from India were explored in this paper: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The paper tries to show the human affiliation with nature is well expressed in every aspect of Indian religious life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My paper has three goals: 1) to introduce and outline the field of 'critical religion'; 2) to set out my contribution to this field by explaining how and why religions should be considered 'vestigial states'; and 3) to suggest ways in which the approach to the topic of religious synthesis in India might be influenced by critical religion in general and vestigial state theory in particular. I argue that 'religion' as an ahistorical, eternal, indefinable category--what Roland Barthes called 'depoliticized' speech--warrants energetic critique. To this end, I survey a variety of theorists whose work deconstructs 'religion' and attendant binaries such as religious/secular and religion/politics. I maintain that religions function as vestigial states within contemporary states. By 'vestigial states' I mean practices and institutions originating in particular histories as survivals of former sovereignties. These remnants are tolerated as attenuated jurisdictions within fully functioning states. These vestigial states (religions) are always somewhat problematic because they compete with contemporary states--especially if they challenge the present state's right to control violence. However, religions also work to ground the governments that authorize them by recalling earlier, mystified forms of sovereignty. Moreover, religions are useful because they can be depicted as less progressive versions of power. Thus do 'religions,' understood as vestigial states, both disturb and maintain current regimes. I conclude with some speculations on how insights derived from critical religion might impact work on conceptualizing 'religious synthesis' in India specifically and 'interreligious' interactions more generally in a global context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the Hindi/Urdu cinema is intimately connected to the history of artistic performance in India in two important ways. Not only did hereditary music and dance practitioners play key roles in building this cinema, representations of these performers and their practices have been, and continue to be, the subject of Indian film narratives, genres, and tropes. I begin with this history in order to explore the Muslim religio-cultural and artistic inheritance that informs Hindi/Urdu cinema, as well as examine how this heritage has been incorporated into the cinematic narratives that help construct distinct gendered, religious, and national identities. My specific focus is on the figure of the tawa'if dancer, often equated with North Indian culture and nautch dance performance. Analyzing the ways in which traces of the tawa'if appear in two recent films, Dedh Ishqiya and Begum Jaan, I show how this figure is placed in a larger representational regime that sustains nationalist formations of contemporary Indian identity. As I demonstrate, even in the most blatant attempts to define the Indian nation as "Hindu," the "Muslimness" of the tawa'if—and by extension the cinema she informed in ways both real and representational—is far from relinquished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of the Vijayanagar kingdom in the 14th century A.D. was inter alia due to the universal desire that fell all over south India among all classes of Hindus to protect their dharma against their enemies. The fragmentary character of Vijayanagar politics could be ameliorated but not overcome, by any administrative structure as long as the lordship itself continued to be segmentary. The Vijayanagar rulers subdued the enemies of Hinduism, the alien rulers. When the second Pandya royal authority was displaced in the the16th century by that of Vijayanagar commanders and other military adventurers from Andhra and by petty Marava chieftains and during the period of disorder and confusion that the southern region continued to be controlled by the Brahmanas and Vellalas. The rulers of Vijayanagar were staunch Hindus and they always encourage the Hindu religion in several ways. Under their rule, both Saivism and Vaishnavism flourished. Vaishnavism was the most popular religious sect of Hindus during the reign of the Vijayanagar rulers. The Vijayanagar rulers, who acted as the custodians of Dharma, not in the pragmatistic but the larger sense of the term lived up to this Hindu ideal. The liberal religious spirit of the Vijayanagar emperors has generally been attributed to the influence of the eminent Advaita philosopher Madvacharya. The ruler of Vijayanagar also gave protection not only to Muslims but also to Christians. The Vijayanagar rulers accorded a warm welcome to the Missionaries. The Vijayanagar rulers proved themselves to be noble example of the spirit of toleration and the policy of equal treatment of all subjects by recruiting Muslims into their army and giving them responsible positions. The Vijayanagar rulers encouraged the construction of dargahs. They endeavored to maintain amicable relations with their Muslim neighbours when Ramaraya last one of his sons, his wife adopted Ali Adil Shah as her son. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new discourse that both indigenizes and sacralizes mass consumption and corporate labor has emerged alongside the opening of India's economy at the turn of the twenty-first century. To illustrate this argument, I take as my case study the so-named "retail religion" that leaders within India's retail giant, Future Group, produced in the early 2000s to make buying more and working harder quintessentially Indian and specifically Hindu traits. Whereas the enchantment of corporate capitalism often draws on and produces notions of the spiritual , this religion rejects the universal resonances of that term. It employs mythology instead, referring to the epic and purāṇic genres of Hindu texts upon which it relies to produce the Future Group's Indianness. As such, retail religion promises its adherents that their engagement in the neoliberal economic order does not signify their subjugation, but instead their freedom to truly be themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buddhist art owes its origin due to the religious devotion and fervour of Buddha's followers. But it received the greatest incentive from the great Mauryan emperor Asoka through whose efforts Buddhism became a popular religion in India. He did all that was possible for the propagation of Buddhism and art which reflects 'the ideas and ideals. ambitions, joys and fears of Buddhist deity'. There were other lay devotees who generously contributed to the erection of caityas, stupas and the like to express their deep veneration to Buddha. Thus the inspiration of the Buddhist art came from religion. Indeed, it also served as a valuable means for the propagation of Buddhism. Starting from the time of emperor Asoka upto the middle of the 1 st century B. C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay focuses on hijras in India and on male women sangomas in Zulu gender-differentiated possession cults in South Africa. We approach these individuals through the travelling concept of "translects", in the sense in which hijras and sangomas as "transgender individuals" cultivating a culture-specific, gender liminality use words to refer to themselves, their body parts, sexual orientation, societal rituals and practices, usually not in the dominant or standard language and often in a language form intelligible only to them. While these words were pushed out of the public domain and were colonized, subjugated, or expunged from history, the essay seeks to find out how these individuals and their translects survived their subjugation by leaving their heterotopic traces across time, punctuated by four "moments": the implicit divide; the explicit divide; the post-/re-colonial moment; decolonizing translects. Hinging on "transing" and "translating", the essay also evokes how decolonizing attempts oscillate between two extremes: on the one hand, translects are made gradually to come to terms with the modern and dominant language of "law", "reason" and "contract" and, on the other hand, seek to subvert the hegemony of the standard languages. The essay concludes by showing how the incorporation of translects into the western-style transsexual grid often results in the erasure of gender-variant translects. If translects were to survive, they could only do so through being used as coded language and subterfuge practices in what we call "the public sphere of the hinterlands" – constantly interrogating the legitimacy of the dominant languages and standard sexual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religion is one of the strongest binding forces that play a significant role in the socio-cultural life of the people for the maintenance of cohesion and continuation of the society. Rites and rituals are an integral part of every belief system. Places of worship, the sacred performances, and the performer or religious specialist occupy a pivotal place in day to day life of the people of complex as well as simple societies. The Tengapania Deoris are one of the scheduled tribes of Assam, India, who are Hindu by religion but have their parochial belief system. The term Deori itself means priest. Balia baba is their supreme God and the place of worship is known as Balia Baba Than or than ghar. For the sacred performances of than ghar they have their priests who occupy an esteemed place in their socio-religious universe. The Deoris are unique amongst the other ethnic groups of Assam regarding the religious belief system which is continuing amidst the strong influences of mainstream religions. In this present endeavor an attempt has been made to know about the unique religious features of the Deori religion in the rural context of Assam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article makes an attempt to explore various social customs, cultures, and religions of India and revisit the concept of ecofeminism and social ecology, which seems to be a dire necessity in contemporary times, especially in the Indian context. India is a land of variegated customs, cultures, and religions. The diversity is not limited to these realms but incorporates multi-racial, multi-spatial, and multi-eras, the ancient, medieval, and contemporary history. The pattern is intricate as these factors affect the eco-diversity in both ways: unsympathetically and chancily. It is ostensibly witnessed that India suffers deplorably in the ecological rondure. Do we need a complete set of anticipatory hermeneutics of variegated Indian customs, cultures, and religions to convalesce the ecosystem? The answer is de-facto ‘yes’. The paper indubitably confesses the arrogance and disdain shown towards nature and ecology as a whole in the country that nurtures illogical axioms those which are maintained and adopted in the name of customs, cultures, and religions; and to offer a potent solution, if not to eradicate entirely but lessen the extravagant exploitation of natural resources and building stable ecological equity. Ecofeminism and Social Ecology can be taken to task to solve the grave ecological crisis that India encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution, in answer to the question posed in this collection 'right-wing nationalism, populism, and religion: what are the connections and why?', attempts to account for the development of Hindu nationalism in India as articulated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hindu nationalism represents a fusion of conservative right-wing nationalism and religion, which has proved highly successful at the ballot box. It aims at the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra or state. Central to Hindu nationalism is the idea of Hindutva, which interpellates all Indians as belonging to a Hindu civilisation based on a common pan-Indian Hindu national identity. Muslims occupy the position of a 'constitutive outside' enabling the construction of a Hindu Rashtra; they remain 'enemies' to be either excluded or assimilated to a Hindu national culture. Consequently, they remain targets of government legislation. This will be illustrated with reference to the recent abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the building of a temple to the Hindu God Ram in Ayodhya, the Citizen Amendment Act, and the government of India's responses to COVID-19. India under Modi, it concludes, is on the way to becoming a Hindu Rashtra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the genealogy of the "science of religion" developed by the Bengali intellectual Rajnarayan Basu (1826–1899). One of my central aims is to demonstrate that a "science of religion," or Religionswissenschaft in the sense of Friedrich Max Müller, has emerged within a global context that was actively shaped by "non-Western" actors. To this end, I will focus on exchanges between the Indian reform movement of the Brahmo Samaj, Christian Unitarians, Transcendentalists, orientalist scholars, and members of the Theosophical Society. All these actors were concerned with the origin of religion, its modern meaning, and its function in shaping the future of society. Building on an analysis of the global exchanges revolving around these issues, special attention is paid to the inherent tensions between religious universalism and a nationalist insistence on "true religion," which directly pertains to contested demarcations between reform and revival, or modernity and tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, infant mortality among Hindus is higher than among Muslims, and religious differences in sanitation practices have been cited as a contributing factor. To explore whether religion itself is associated with differences in sanitation practices, this study compares sanitation practices of Hindus and Muslims living in the same locations using three nationally representative data sets from India. Across all three data sets, the unconditional religion-specific gap in latrine ownership and latrine use declines by approximately two-thirds when conditioning on location characteristics or including location fixed effects. Further, the estimates do not show evidence of religion-specific differences in other sanitation practices, such as handwashing or observed fecal material near homes. Household sanitation practices vary substantially across areas of India, but religion itself has less direct influence when considering differences between Hindus and Muslims within the same location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of religion on the humane orientation of entrepreneurs. Embracing a holistic view of humane entrepreneurship (HumEnt), we conducted qualitative semistructured interviews with 16 entrepreneurs across four of India's major religions: Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, and Sikhism. We examined to what extent HumEnt manifests among entrepreneurs across the four religious groups and whether a specific religion influences different dimensions of HumEnt. Our results indicate that HumEnt matters in entrepreneurial ventures, and across industries. We found deep connections between HumEnt and religion, with entrepreneurs indicating a pervasive influence of religion on all dimensions of the HumEnt construct. Yet, we also noticed significant differences across the four religious groups (Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and Jains) as regards the impact of religion on different dimensions of HumEnt. While religion had the highest impact on the sustainability orientation (SO) dimension of HumEnt, its impact on the other two dimensions, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and humane resource orientation (HRO), were far more nuanced. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on HumEnt, especially at the intersection of religion, entrepreneurship, and strategic orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

His close reading of the I Li acarita i and the I Jñane'svari i also offers us a unique viewpoint into the quotidian world of Maharashtra during the Yadava century - the social landscape that these first Marathi works anticipate and begin to empower. In the end, Novetzke's book teaches us not only about vernacularisation in Marathi, which he shows to be quite different than that of Pollock's model. Indeed, despite occasional jabs at Sanskrit with its '"hences" ( I asmat i ) and "whences" ( I kasmat i )' (p. 182) and rare clever bilingual puns (p. 201), vernacularity is markedly unsung in the I Li acarita i , where no pledges of pride in Marathi as an expressive or aesthetic medium are found. [Extracted from the article]

There is a very famous saying in India "Yatra Naryastu pujyante! Ramante tatra Devata!..." that means where women are respected, gods make their home. "It is a universal truth that faith and religion do not countenance discrimination but religious practices are sometimes seen as perpetuating patriarchy thereby negating the basic tenets of faith and of gender equality and rights. The societal attitudes too centre and revolve around the patriarchal mindset thereby derogating the status of women in the social and religious milieu. All religions are simply different paths to reach the Universal One. Religion is basically a way of life to realize one's identity with the Divinity. However, certain dogmas and exclusionary practices and rituals have resulted in incongruities between the true essence of religion or faith and its practice that has come to be permeated with patriarchal prejudices. Sometimes, in the name of essential and integral facet of the faith, such practices are zealously propagated".1 Having considered the above position of woman in religious practices the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has delivered its judgement in case of Indian Young Lawyers Association and Others v. State of Kerala2 saying that entry of female devotees between the age group of 10 to 50 years to the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala (Kerala) which has been denied to them on the basis of certain custom and usage is unconstitutional as violative of Article 14, 15, 25 & 51 (A)e of the Constitution of India. With all due regard to the opinion of Supreme Court, this paper will include that Article 25 is based on practice of religion and religious faith on equal basis to all with respect to the public religious institution. This paper says that the very Right of Article 25 is based on the faith in religion and if in Sabrimala temple God (Lord Ayyappa), who is considered to be living entity in Hindu religion, has himself provided that he will not give darshana to the women of certain age as He is observing celibacy in that temple and if woman still wishes to take that 'Vratham' going against the will of the same God who does not want to give darshana to such woman that is justified even on constitutional parameters as Article 25 is subject to 'morality'. The Hon'be Apex Court, however, while deciding the question of equality has totally discarded this very important aspect morality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: There is no data regarding knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of fasts in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among different religions in India. Study was done to assess KAP regarding fasts among subjects with T2DM from various religions. Material and methods: A total of 300 consecutive participants with T2DM (age ≥ 25 years) from 3 diabetes clinics in North India after consent were subjected to predesigned study pro forma. Result: A total of 300 subjects participated in the study with 76.3% being Hindus, 11% Muslims, 4.3% Sikhs, and 5.7% from other religions (Christians and Buddhists). Knowledge and attitude regarding fasts in context of diabetes were poor in majority of subjects. 59.7% participants agreed that diabetic patients can fast. 36.3% participants believed that people with poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 10%) can also observe fast. 40.7% believed medicines/insulins are not allowed during fasts because of religious reasons. 46.7% participants were aware of hypoglycemic symptoms. Among Hindus 2 most common fasts were Navratri (observed by 53%) and Karva Chauth (observed by 47.6%). Overall, 66.7% of Muslims observed Ramadan. Only 1.3% of participants discussed with their doctors before observing fast. 51.7% of participants who observed fasts had symptoms suggestive of hypoglycemia during fasts. 60.4% of subjects missed their medications during fasting. 28.8% altered their drug regimen by themselves without doctors' consultation. 78.5% of participants observed fasts because of social obligations. Hindus were more likely to consult doctors during fasts and experienced comparatively lesser hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia as compared with Muslims and other religions. Women had greater inhibition to disclose about diabetes during fasts, were more likely to consult doctor during fasts, and perceived greater changes in body weight, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia during fasts. Conclusion: The study showed significant gaps in knowledge and attitude regarding fasts among subjects with T2DM, in spite of fasting being common among all religions. The different nature and duration of different fasts and associated religious practices may contribute to these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined religious support and emotional functioning among 511 Indian university students who reported being either Christian, Muslim, or Hindu. The three-scale structure and internal consistency of the Multi-Faith Religious Support Scale (MFRSS) was supported. Christians' support from God, fellow participants, and religious leaders was all related to more life satisfaction and less depression. Support from God and participants remained linked with life satisfaction even after controlling for social support. Muslims' God support was linked to less depression after controlling for social support. Hindus' religious support and emotional functioning were not related, but their social support was related to less depression. Group differences in religious support were found. Hindus reported the least God support, and Christians reported the most support from fellow religious participants. Overall, findings suggested that religious support functions differently across religious groups in India, with greatest emotional relevance for Christians and least for Hindus. Findings are discussed regarding variations due to faith and culture, implications, and future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the presentation of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s. It argues that Sikhs are mostly presented as threats to Canadian society and this media framing of Sikihs mostly follows Indian media frames of Sikhs as violent anti-state terrorists. Much of this media framing, however, does not discuss the actual circumstances in India, nor does it allow for the voices of Sikhs to be heard unless they are presented as violent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dialogue between culture and the gospel has always been a challenge to the evangelization processes begun within the Catholic Church. In India, particularly in Delhi, this challenge still persists, since the colonization of India by the British and much earlier with the presumed apostolate of Sao Tome in southern India, the valorization of the religions existing in the territory and the attempt to inculture Christianity in India. The reality of these peoples has culturally and socially impacted both sides. Hence the need for a Christianity closer to the cultural reality of these peoples. My argument is that if culture is a dimension of human existence there is no process of evangelization that totally disregards local religiosity in exchange for the effective "inculturation" of the Catholic faith. My proposition is that both religion and culture viewed in the popular sense as stable and monolithic units are not universal definitions, as they dialogue with the practical issues of historical, political, and discursive processes of their context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]