Everyday Hinduism

Everyday Hinduism (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015). This introduction to Hindu traditions focuses on contemporary Hindu rituals, festivals, and lived experiences rather than beginning with the Vedas and progressing through a textual history of Hindu traditions. Framed by introductory and contextual materials, each thematic chapter includes ethnographic examples drawn from Flueckiger’s extensive fieldwork in central India, the Deccan Plateau, South India, and the Hindu diasporic community in Atlanta, Georgia.

Supporting photographs for Everyday Hinduism can be found on the pages for the other books on this website. (For example, for Ch. 5/Festivals–Gangamma Jatara–see When the World Becomes Female; Ch. 5/Vrats–Varalakshmi Puja–see Material Acts; Ch. 8/Ritual Healing–Healing Across Boundaries–see In Amma’s Healing Room.) Select photographs unique to this book and not readily available on the internet are posted here.

 

Ch. 1: Families of Deities/Domestic Shrines

Ch. 4: Temples and Shrines

Ch. 5: Festivals/Ganesha Chaturthi: the intimacy of making Ganesha at home in Hyderabad; Chhattisgarhi village procession; urban public displays.

Ch. 5: Festivals/Diwali in Chhattisgarh- Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, invited into homes by clay oil lamps and rangoli (rice flour) designs.

Ch 6: Ritual Vows/Vrats (for marriage, fertility, good health)