Unforgetting Chaitanya : Vaishnavism and cultures of devotion in colonial Bengal / Varuni Bhatia.

9780190686277 (electronic book)

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2017.

English

1 online resource

BL1285.332.B43 B43 2017

294.5512095414

Varuni Bhatia examines late-19th-century transformations of Vaishnavism - a vibrant and multifaceted religious tradition emanating from the Krishna devotee Chaitnaya (1486-1533) - in Bengal. Drawing on an extensive body of hitherto unexamined archival material, Bhatia finds that both Vaishnava modernisers and secular voices among the educated 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 efforts to recover a 'pure' Bengali culture and history at a time of rising anti-colonial sentiment.

Varuni Bhatia examines late-19th-century transformations of Vaishnavism - a vibrant and multifaceted religious tradition emanating from the Krishna devotee Chaitnaya (1486-1533) - in Bengal. Drawing on an extensive body of hitherto unexamined archival material, Bhatia finds that both Vaishnava modernisers and secular voices among the educated 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 efforts to recover a 'pure' Bengali culture and history at a time of rising anti-colonial sentiment.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on August 21, 2017).

Print version: 9780190686246

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