The Hindu Goddess Laksmi is the consort of the great God Vishnu. This book looks at the relationship between Laskmi and Vishnu in South Indian tradition. In some other sub-traditions, P. Pratap Kumar shows, the Goddess is seen as a mediator between devotees and God. Others put her on a par with her male counterpart. In yet other traditions she is worshiped as an independent deity in her own right. South Indian Vaisnavism views the Goddess in all of these ways, with the result that theological debates have flourished. Clarifying these debates and the assumptions behind them, Kumar contributes...

This volume deals with a phenomenon of increasing global significance, the South Asian diaspora. In particular it deals with the role of religion. The diversity of religious life in South Asia is remarkable and much of this diversity is replicated in the diaspora communities around the world. The case studies in this book explore and analyse the social, religious and cultural reality of people in the diaspora belonging to Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism and originating from four of the South Asian nation states (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri...

This collection of essays is brought together in the honour of Gerhardus Cornelis (Pippin) Oosthuizen on his eighty third birthday. Pippin has been one of the most significant religion researchers and prolific Humanities publishers South Africa has ever produced. Among his friends and colleagues are some of the most important scholars of religion in South Africa and elsewhere. With his critical acumen and insightful understanding of the ebb and flow of the South African socio-political landscape of the last fifty-odd years, he has been a distinguished leader in research and has been honoured...