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Article: RELIGION AND SOCIAL SYSTEM OF THE VIRASAIVA COMMUNITY.(Review)
- Article from:
- Journal of Comparative Family Studies
- Article date:
- June 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Journal of Comparative Family Studies. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CHEKKI, Dan A. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997, 149 pp., $55.00 hardcover.
Though Hinduism is the main religion of India, there are diversities (despite unity) in it and hence, differences in the styles of life of various religious communities. The book that is reviewed here is a direct evidence of it. Though originally conceived as a trinity in classical Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, the Saiva scriptures portray Siva as one God and "Virasaiva" is so called because of the "heroic" (veera) attitude and behavior as well as the intense devotion of the followers of Virasaivism in defending their faith. Their origin is obscure, mythologically shrouded in ...