The Camphor Flame – Popular Hinduism & Society in India (Paper): Popular Hinduism and Society in India - Softcover

Fuller, C J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691020841 ISBN 13: 9780691020846

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1992

Synopsis

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. The fluid relationship between these beings and humans is a central theme of this rich and accessible study of popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India. Lucidly organized and skillfully written, The Camphor Flame brings clarity to an immensely complicated subject. C. J. Fuller combines ethnographic case studies with comparative anthropological analysis, and draws on textual and historical scholarship as well. The book begins with an analysis of namaskara--the graceful gesture with which Hindus greet and show respect to gods and goddesses and to social superiors in the human world. Hierarchy is at the heart of Hinduism and Indian society, and Fuller examines the many contexts in which unequal relationships between deities and people, and among people themselves, are expressed--or denied--in popular religion. Throughout he proposes new ways of looking at many aspects of popular Hinduism and society in India, such as the relationship between worship and sacrifice, the importance of kingship even at the local level, the place of devotionalism in popular religion, the ritual power of goddesses and women, the connection between alternative explanations of misfortune, and the common basis of rituals that range from the most complicated to the simple showing of a single camphor flame to a god or goddess.

About this title

Review

ÝA¨n excellent book. . . . ÝM¨uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike. -- William S. Sax "Journal of the American Academy of Religion"

[A]n excellent book. . . . [M]uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike.--William S. Sax "Journal of the American Academy of Religion "

"The Camphor Flame" is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.--Kathleen M. Erndl "Journal of Asian Studies "
"The Camphor Flame" is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.--Kathleen M. Erndl "Journal of Asian Studies "
"The Camphor Flame" is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.
--Kathleen M. Erndl "Journal of Asian Studies "
[A]n excellent book. . . . [M]uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike.
--William S. Sax "Journal of the American Academy of Religion "

""The Camphor Flame" is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book."--Kathleen M. Erndl, "Journal of Asian Studies"

"The Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book."--Kathleen M. Erndl, Journal of Asian Studies

"[A]n excellent book. . . . [M]uch anthropological research on Hinduism has emerged in recent decades, and C. J. Fuller has done an admirable job of synthesizing it for specialists and nonspecialists alike."--William S. Sax, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

-The Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.---Kathleen M. Erndl, Journal of Asian Studies

About the Author

C. J. Fuller is Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His books include "Servants of the Goddess" (Cambridge) and "The Renewal of the Priesthood" (Princeton).

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0691020841
• ISBN 13: 9780691020846
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360