This book looks at how religious studies is framed and taught in India. It addresses the contradiction between the country’s vibrant religious life and the dearth of comparative and social scientific religious studies programs across Indian universities. The volume: • Studies the efforts by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan and Mohan Malaviya in Varanasi, to introduce and institutionalize religious studies in India; • Discusses the notions of religion and spirituality and situates the failure of the ‘secularization thesis’ in the context of modern India; • Provides concrete suggestions on how to develop religious studies in relation to global citizenship and Indian cultural heritage with the hope of initiating a larger discussion. A unique contribution to the study of religion in society and education, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of theology, history, philosophy, sociology, secularization, globalization, religious studies, education studies, and South Asian studies.

This book looks at how religious studies is framed and taught in India. It addresses the contradiction between the country's vibrant religious life and the dearth of comparative and social scientific religious studies programs across Indian universities. The volume: * Studies the efforts by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan and Mohan Malaviya in Varanasi, to introduce and institutionalize religious studies in India; * Discusses the notions of religion and spirituality and situates the failure of the 'secularization thesis' in the context of modern India; * Provides concrete suggestions on how to develop religious studies in relation to global citizenship and Indian cultural heritage with the hope of initiating a larger discussion. A unique contribution to the study of religion in society and education, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of theology, history, philosophy, sociology, secularization, globalization, religious studies, education studies, and South Asian studies.

The word "ritual" evokes images of formalised social action, sometimes austere and minimalist, sometimes as exuberant pageantry. Ritual criticism has thus prominently taken the form of the interiorisation of aspects of rituals, insisting on the futility of outward show and the importance of inner authenticity. In this book, Clemens Cavallin argues that ritualisation and many forms of interiorisation are in fact interconnected processes providing ritual practice with a particular basic dynamism. At the same time, the turn to the interior, especially in its modern forms, when taking intentionality as its focus, can upset this balance and undermine the very foundation of ritual action.