Hindu And Christian In South-east India

Recent studies of South India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries concentrate primarily on political and social issues. Studies of specifically religious developments, of religious encounter, institutions and movements, especially in the nineteenth century, have been few and far between. The purpose of this study is to examine religious institutions, trends and developments in parts of South-east India, focusing on the Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts - a region that has long been famous as a centre of cultural and religious activity. It is recalled that neither Hinduism nor Christianity were totally static forms of religious organization, ritual or belief, but were living traditions always in the process of change and adaptation: thus one of the major concerns of the book deals with continuities, conversion and change.