Can I read Unforgetting Chaitanya : Vaishnavism and Cultures of Devotion in Colonial Bengal on EtoBox?
Unforgetting Chaitanya : Vaishnavism and Cultures of Devotion in Colonial Bengal by Varuni Bhatia is a book available to read on EtoBox.
What is Unforgetting Chaitanya : Vaishnavism and Cultures of Devotion in Colonial Bengal about?
What role do pre-modern religious traditions play in the formation of modern secular identities? In Unforgetting Chaitanya , Varuni Bhatia examines late-nineteenth-century transformations of Bengali Vaishnavism-a vibrant and multifaceted religious tradition that traces its origins to the fifteenth century Krishna devotee Chaitanya (1486-1533). Drawing on an extensive body of hitherto unexamined archival material, Bhatia finds that both religious modernizers and secular voices among the Bengali middle-class invoked Chaitanya, portraying him simultaneously as a local hero, a Hindu reformer, and as God almighty. She argues that these claims should be understood in relation to the recovery of a "pure" Bengali culture and history in a period of nascent, but rising, anti-colonialism in the region. Who is a true Vaishnava? In the late nineteenth century, this question assumed urgency as debates around questions of authenticity appeared prominently in the Bengali public sphere. These debates went on for years, even decades, causing unbridgeable rifts in personal friendships and tarnishing reputations of established scholars. Underlying these debates was the question of authoritative Benga
- Author
- Varuni Bhatia
- Publisher
- IRL Press at Oxford University Press
- Published
- 2017
- Language
- EN
- ISBN
- 9780190686253
- Subjects
- History, Religion, Humanities