The state of Goa on India's southwest coast was once the capital of the Portuguese-Catholic empire in Asia. When Vasco Da Gama arrived in India in 1498; he mistook Hindus for Christians; but Jesuit missionaries soon declared war on the alleged idolatry of the Hindus. Today; Hindus and Catholics assert their own religious identities; but Hindu village gods and Catholic patron saints attract worship from members of both religious communities. Through fresh readings of early Portuguese sources and long-term ethnographic fieldwork; this study traces the history of Hindu-Catholic syncretism in Goa and reveals the complex role of religion at the intersection of colonialism and modernity.
#869555 in Books 2014-03-31Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .90 x 6.13l; 1.14 #File Name: 0252078721304 pages
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