For more than half a century, T.N. Madan has been a towering influence on the sociological and anthropological studies of family and kinship, cultural dimensions of development, religion, secularism, and Hindu society and tradition. This Omnibus brings together his seminal writings on marriage, kinship, family, and the household in Hindu society. Family and Kinship: A Study of the Pandits of Rural Kashmir, first published in 1965, remains a pioneering ethnographic study of the Kashmiri Pandits, and is considered a classic in the field of world anthropology. The book presents a social history of a people and culture which is currently virtually non-existent in the Kashmir Valley. Drawing upon new theoretical and methodological perspectives, Non-renunciation: Themes and Interpretations of Hindu Culture provides a nuanced understanding of Hinduism as a lived tradition. It explores aspects of auspiciousness, purity, asceticism, eroticism, altruism, and death while focussing on the householder's life in Hindu society. The Omnibus also includes additional essays on the Brahmanic gotra, and the Hindu family and development, along with a short piece on aspects of traditional household culture. It features an autobiographical essay—the author's recollection of growing up in a Pandit home in Srinagar, Kashmir. In the Prologue, T.N. Madan engages with the 'householder tradition' across the cultural regions of India, analysing themes of householdership and renunciation in religious philosophy and ethnography.

This Omnibus brings together two of distinguished sociologist T.N. Madan's books on the concept of the householder in Hinduism. A common thread running through the Omnibus is the focus on life and society amongst the Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community. One of the books discussed in this Omnibus is Family and Kinship: A Study of the Pandits of Rural Kashmir, a pioneering and ethnographically rich account of the Indian family. It is considered to be a classic kinship study and is probably the only study of its kind of traditional Pandit life in the Kashmir Valley. The second book is Non-renunciation: Themes and Interpretations of Hindu Culture, which draws attention away from the ideas of caste and renunciation and focuses instead on the 'householder' in Hindu society. Beginning with an analysis of the ideology of the householder among Kashmiri Pandits the author deals with asceticism, eroticism, altruism and death as elaborations of the householder tradition. The Omnibus also includes a new Preface; a Prologue which introduces the reader to the concept of the householder tradition in Hinduism; an Epilogue-the author's memories of growing up in a Kashmiri Pandit household in Srinagar; and three appendices on related themes.

With a new preface highlighting the loss of these communities and the way of life between then and now, due to the conflict in the area, this classic will be of interest to a wide scholarly audience and to the general public as well.

This Omnibus edition brings together four classic works on Hinduism by renowned scholars, providing the liturgical, historical, anthropological, and individualist's interpretation of the religion. With an introduction by T.N. Madan, this volume will make an excellent and very comprehensive collector's item on the subject of Hinduism.

Owning Land, Being Women enquires into the processes that establish inheritance as a unique form of property relation in law and society. It focuses on India, examining the legislative processes that led to the 2005 amendment of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, along with several interconnected welfare policies. Scholars have understood these Acts as a response to growing concerns about women’s property rights in developing countries. In re-reading these Acts and exploring the wider nexus of Indian society in which the legislation was drafted, this study considers how questions of family structure and property rights contribute to the creation of legal subjects and demonstrates the significance of the politico-economic context of rights formulation. On the basis of an ethnography of a village in West Bengal, this book brings the moral axis of inheritance into sharp focus, elucidating the interwoven dynamics of bequest, distribution of family wealth and reciprocity of care work that are integral to the logic of inheritance. It explains why inheritance rights based on the notion of individual property rights are inadequate to account for practices of inheritance. Mondal shows that inheritance includes normative structures of affective attachment and expectations, i.e., evaluatively-charged imaginaries of the future that coordinate present practices. These insights pose questions of the dominant resource-based conceptualisation of inherited property in the debate on women’s empowerment. In doing so, this work opens up a line of investigation that brings feminist rights discourse into conversation with ethics, enriching the liberal theory of gender justice.

The Challenge: “I attempted to shed English blood intentionally and of purpose, as a humble protest against the inhuman transportations and hangings of Indian youth. In this attempt I consulted none but my own conscience; conspired with none but my own duty. I believe that a nation unwillingly held down by foreign bayonets is in a perpetual state of war. Since open battle is rendered impossible I attacked by surprise - since canon could not be had I drew forth and fired a revolver. As a Hindu I feel that the slavery of my nation is an insult to my God. Her cause is the cause of freedom. Her service is the service of Sri Krishna. Neither rich nor able, a poor son like myself can offer nothing but his blood on the altar of Mother’s deliverance and so I rejoice at the prospect of my martyrdom. The only lesson required in India is to learn how to die and the only way to teach it is by dying alone. The soul is immortal and if everyone of my countrymen takes at least two lives of Englishmen before his body falls the Mother’s salvation is a day’s work. This war ceases not only with the independence of India alone, it shall continue as long as the English and Hindu races exists in this world. Until our country is free Sri Krishna stands exhorting, if you are killed you, attain heaven; if successful you win the earth. It is my fervent prayer, may I be reborn of the same mother, and may I re-die in the same sacred cause, till my mission is done and She stands free for the good of humanity and to the glory of God.” —Madan Lal Dhingra Immerse yourself in the gripping tale of Madan Lal Dhingra, a courageous freedom fighter who sacrificed his life for India's independence struggle. This historical account sheds light on Dhingra's revolutionary activities, his martyrdom, and his enduring legacy as a symbol of patriotism and selfless devotion. The Life and Times of Madan Lal Dhingra, biography, Vishav Bandhu, historical account, revolutionary figure, Indian independence movement, political activism, martyr, freedom fighter, colonial era, nationalist, historical context, sacrifice, patriotism, anti-imperialism, inspiring legacy, political dissent

The religious landscape in Asia has long been diverse, with various forms of syncretic traditions and pragmatic practices continuously having been challenged by centrifugal forces of differentiation. This anthology explores representations and managements of religious diversity in Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and diaspora religions originating in these countries, seen through the lenses of history, identity, state, ritual and geography. In addition to presenting empirical cases, the chapters also address theoretical and methodological reflections using Asia as a laboratory for further comparative research of the relevance and use of 'religious diversity'. Contributors are: Donald Baker, Ugo Dessi, Chung Van Hoang, Ayelet Harel-Shalev, Noa Levy, Gideon Elazar, Santosh K. Singh, Yu Tao, Ed Griffith, Satoko Fujiwara, Uwe Skoda, Tudor Silva, Martin Tsang, Marianne Q. Fibiger, Jørn Borup, and Lene Kühle. Religious Diversity in Asia was made possible by a framework grant from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation allowing the grant holder (Jørn Borup) and two colleagues (Marianne Q. Fibiger and Lene Kühle) to host a workshop at Aarhus University and to co-arrange workshops in Delhi and Nagoya. We would like to thank professors Arshad Alam and Michiaki Okuyama for hosting these latter workshops at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Nanzan University, and we would like to thank Professor Chong-Suh Kim for the invitation for Jørn Borup to visit Seoul National University. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the scholars who participated in the workshops and to all the authors we subsequently invited to contribute to our endeavor to create this academically relevant volume.