Description
Book SynopsisShows that traditionalism and modernity reinforce each other among the priests at the Minakshi Temple. This book also shows that the priests have become more 'professional' and modern-minded while also insisting on the legitimacy of tradition. It concludes by critiquing the analysis of modernity and tradition in social science.
Trade Review"This book is beautifully written in a clear style that will make even the most arcane aspects of the priestly profession accessible to undergraduate readers. At the same time, it is a theoretically sophisticated work that will be read widely. No one can write about the Minakshi temple priests with the authority that Dr. Fuller brings to the task. As ethnography the book is unique."
—Mattison Mines, author of Public Faces, Private Voices"In this book, C. J. Fuller has cumulated ethnographic experience and data for twenty-six years and has thus made himself into the consummate ethnographer of the priests of one of the most magnificent temples of South India."
—Peter van der Veer, author of Religious NationalismTable of ContentsFigures and Tables ix Preface xi Note on Transliteration xv Key to Figures 1 and 2 xvii Chapter One: The Priests and the Minakshi Temple's Renovation Ritual 1 Chapter Two: Rights,Duties,and Work 19 Chapter Three: Family and Domestic Life 57 Chapter Four: The Agamas and Priestly Education 80 Chapter Five: Religious Politics and the Priests 114 Chapter Six: Modernity,Traditionalism,and the State 152 Notes 169 Glossary 191 Bibliography 195 Index 205
