The study of Hinduism is fragmented among many disciplines. Early academic study of Hinduism was overwhelmingly a study of texts, and while a strong philological tradition continues to characterise much work on Hinduism (in particular in Indology), very different materials and questions animate debates among anthropologists, sociologists, historians, philosophers, and others. The result is that Hindu institutions such as temples are understood quite differently by those who focus on their political, economic, religious, or aesthetic dimensions. Valuable contributions are also beginning to appear in emergent fields as diverse as cognitive science and constructive Hindu theology. While many works in these fields are published in Europe or North America, significant work appears in journals and books published in India which remain hard to access elsewhere.

The collection is fully indexed and supplemented with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the gathered materials in their historical and intellectual context.