The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India - Revised and Expanded Edition

by C. J. Fuller

Overview

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's new afterword brings the study up-to-date by examining the relationship between popular Hinduism and contemporary Hindu nationalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691120485
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2004
Edition description:	Revised and Expanded Edition
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

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).

Editorial Reviews

"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

From the Publisher

[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.

Journal of the American Academy of Religion - William S. Sax

The Camphor Flame is a book to read from cover to cover. . . .[A]n impressive and valuable book.

Journal of Asian Studies - Kathleen M. Erndl

[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