Digital Hinduism
London; New York: Routledge (2020), 283 pp.
Contains index
Series: Routledge Studies in Religion and Digital Culture
ISBN 978-1-138-09235-8 (hbk); 978-1-315-10752-3 (ebook)
"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." (Publisher description)
Introduction: Digital Hinduism: Studying Hinduism at the intersections of digital media and culture / Xenia Zeiler, 1
I. WHO BELONGS? IDENTITY AND FINDING ONE'S PLACE
1 Whats(up) with Hinduism? Digital culture and religion among Bengali Hindus / Aparajita De and Rajib Nandi, 13
2 Hindu religious identification in India's online matrimonial market / Fritzi-Marie Titzmann, 35
3 Automatic rituals and inadvertent audiences: ISKCON, Krishna and the ritual mechanics of Facebook / Nicole Karapanagiotis, 51
4 Cultural regrouping in the diaspora: Mediating Hindu identity online / Juli L. Gittinger, 68
II. WHO DEFINES? AUTHORITY AND APPROPRIATION
5 Authors, self-fashioning and online cultural production in the age of Hindu celevision / Pramod K. Nayar, 91
6 Instagram your Durga Puja! Social media, hashtags and state-sponsored cultural marketing / Dheepa Sundaram, 107
7 Samkhyayoga and the Internet: The website of a contemporary Hindu monastic institution / Knut A. Jacobsen, 128
8 Mediatized gurus: Hindu religious and artistic authority and digital culture / Hanna Mannila and Xenia Zeiler, 145
III. WHO DEBATES? CONTEST AND NEGOTIATION
9 The Internet: A new marketplace for transacting puja items / Vineeta Sinha, 165
10 Taming Hindu Sakta Tantra on the Internet: Online pujas for the goddess Tripurasundari / Sravana Borkataky-Varma, 186
11 New media and spiritualism in India: Understanding online spiritualism in convergence cultures / Jesna Jayachandran, 207
12 Streaming the divine: Hindu temples' digital journeys / Yael Laza R., 230
IV. CRITICAL REFLECTION
13 Reflections on digital Hinduism: Sacred images, dominant Hindu narratives and the generational digital divide / Heinz Scheifinger, 251
I. WHO BELONGS? IDENTITY AND FINDING ONE'S PLACE
1 Whats(up) with Hinduism? Digital culture and religion among Bengali Hindus / Aparajita De and Rajib Nandi, 13
2 Hindu religious identification in India's online matrimonial market / Fritzi-Marie Titzmann, 35
3 Automatic rituals and inadvertent audiences: ISKCON, Krishna and the ritual mechanics of Facebook / Nicole Karapanagiotis, 51
4 Cultural regrouping in the diaspora: Mediating Hindu identity online / Juli L. Gittinger, 68
II. WHO DEFINES? AUTHORITY AND APPROPRIATION
5 Authors, self-fashioning and online cultural production in the age of Hindu celevision / Pramod K. Nayar, 91
6 Instagram your Durga Puja! Social media, hashtags and state-sponsored cultural marketing / Dheepa Sundaram, 107
7 Samkhyayoga and the Internet: The website of a contemporary Hindu monastic institution / Knut A. Jacobsen, 128
8 Mediatized gurus: Hindu religious and artistic authority and digital culture / Hanna Mannila and Xenia Zeiler, 145
III. WHO DEBATES? CONTEST AND NEGOTIATION
9 The Internet: A new marketplace for transacting puja items / Vineeta Sinha, 165
10 Taming Hindu Sakta Tantra on the Internet: Online pujas for the goddess Tripurasundari / Sravana Borkataky-Varma, 186
11 New media and spiritualism in India: Understanding online spiritualism in convergence cultures / Jesna Jayachandran, 207
12 Streaming the divine: Hindu temples' digital journeys / Yael Laza R., 230
IV. CRITICAL REFLECTION
13 Reflections on digital Hinduism: Sacred images, dominant Hindu narratives and the generational digital divide / Heinz Scheifinger, 251
