ABSTRACT

Digital Religion does not simply refer to religion as it is carried out online, but more broadly studies how digital media interrelate with religious practice and belief. This collection explores Digital Hinduism and consequentially studies how Hinduism is expressed in the digital sphere and how Hindus utilise digital media.

Highlighting digital Hinduism and including case studies with foci on India, Asia and the global Hindu diaspora, this book features contributions from an interdisciplinary and international panel of academics. The chapters focus on specific case studies, which in summary exemplify the wide variety and diversity of what constitutes Digital Hinduism today.

Applying methods and research questions from various disciplinary backgrounds appropriate to the study of religion and digital culture, such as Religious Studies, South Asian Studies, Anthropology and Media and Communication Studies, this book is vital reading for any scholar interested in the relationship between religion and the digital world.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

Digital Hinduism: Studying Hinduism at the intersections of digital media and culture

part 1|1 pages

Who belongs? Identity and finding one’s place

chapter 3|17 pages

Automatic rituals and inadvertent audiences

ISKCON, Krishna and the ritual mechanics of Facebook

chapter 4|21 pages

Cultural regrouping in the diaspora

Mediating Hindu identity online

part 2|1 pages

Who defines? Authority and appropriation

chapter 7|17 pages

Sāṃkhyayoga and the Internet

The website of a contemporary Hindu monastic institution

chapter 8|17 pages

Mediatized gurus

Hindu religious and artistic authority and digital culture

part 3|1 pages

Who debates? Contest and negotiation

chapter 9|23 pages

The Internet

A new marketplace for transacting pūjā items

chapter 10|21 pages

Taming Hindu Śakta Tantra on the Internet

Online pūjās for the goddess Tripurasundarī

chapter 11|23 pages

New media and spiritualism in India

Understanding online spiritualism in convergence cultures

chapter 12|19 pages

Streaming the divine

Hindu temples’ digital journeys

part 4|12 pages

Critical reflection

chapter 13|12 pages

Reflections on digital Hinduism

Sacred images, dominant Hindu narratives and the generational digital divide