The temple of the god Kalugacalamurtti - the local name for Murugan; Siva's younger son - is the largest economic enterprise in the town of Kalugumalai; South India; yet ostentatious display and devotionalism loom far larger in the conduct of its affairs than economic rationality; despite attempts at bureaucratic rationalism by successive governments. This book describes this Hindu temple's complex patterns of public liturgy and private worship; and explores the metaphysical themes which underlie them according to the Saiva Sidhhanta philosophy governing temple worship. It shows how temple rituals portray and enact the sexuality; kinship; and regality of the gods. It then recounts how temple economy and administration have changed over the past two centuries; how groups and interests within Kalugumalai town challenged the temple's hegemony over their affairs; and how and why the Rajas of Ettaiyapuram; the temple's hereditary Trustees; successfully resisted repeated government attempts to assume control of the temple over the past 50 years. There have relatively few previous ethnographic studies of large Hindu temples and no other field-worker has access to such detailed information on the orthodox and ceremonial economies of any Hindu temple in South India. The result is a unique synthesis of ethnographic and historical material.
#24978 in Books Goldberg; Jonah 2009-06-02 2009-06-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.10 x 5.20l; .78 #File Name: 0767917189512 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. ... and then began to realise the I was marking pretty much the whole bookBy Gerard CaseyI started to underline relevant and important passages and then began to realise the I was marking pretty much the whole book! Delightful and devastating.8 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Highly recommended!!By CustomerIt is unfortunate that this book has a cartoon on the cover; because to the casual browser it might look like a lightweight political screed. In fact; this is a serious work of scholarship that deserves a wide readership. To the open-minded student of the history of ideas; this book is mind-blowing. It wipes away; with solid evidence; the usual lazy beliefs about how today's leftists got to be that way. The intellectual connections between fascism; the progressivism of the Wilson era; and the leftism of today are well traced in this book. A lot of questions in my mind (such as; "how did liberals get to be so illiberal?") were answered.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The book makes a nice complement to Hayek's "Road to SerfdomBy Joseph D. KulisicsThe book makes a nice complement to Hayek's "Road to Serfdom." Hayek wrote his book as a warning to American and British readers. He wanted his audiences to understand the deep connections between totalitarianism and socialism and that the fascist movements of continental Europe were at heart; socialist projects.Goldberg does a good job of uncovering the interplay of influences between American and European socialists and the forgotten history of fascism in America; and I think that he accidentally adds a new urgency to Hayek's arguments.
