Between god and state

The author devotes considerable space examining religious organisations engaged in providing public services

Economics of Religion in India

Sriya Iyer

Harvard University Press

Rs 799; 304 pages

Religion in India offers the majority of people a framework to enter transactional relationships with God, the Divine Unknown or the Eternal Being. Offerings in temples, gurudwaras, dargahs, mosques and, during religious rituals, at other places — our homes, at river ghats and even cremation grounds — form part of some of our earliest memories. The offerings are mostly always in expectation of something, a quid pro quo with divinity. In some religions, priests sustain themselves by facilitating or acting as middlemen, brokering the “deal”. This