The meaning(s) of religion in India

Abstract

Articulations of religion on the Indian subcontinent have provided clusters of ideas about themes as varied as devotion, morality, tradition, hierarchies, disposition, action, feeling, persuasion, diversity and community. A preoccupation with many of these themes unites formulations of religion from precolonial times through to colonial and postcolonial contexts. These formulations of religion have shaped the trajectories of democracy and secularity in India and provide a point of departure from which to consider the meaning(s) of religion in India and the West.