Bringing Krishna Back to India

Abstract The Hare Krishnas have long been associated with American hippie culture and New Age religious movements. But they have developed deeply rooted communities in India and throughout the world over the past 50 years. Known officially as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), this once-marginal religious community now wields vast economic assets, political influence, and a posh identity endorsed by Indian business tycoons and Bollywood celebrities. This book examines this globalized religious community in Mumbai, India’s business and entertainment capital, where ISKCON draws Indians from diverse backgrounds to adopt a socially conservative Krishna bhakti identity amidst a neoliberal megacity and the city’s famed cosmopolitanism. Examining the full-circle globalization of a religious movement, this study considers how religious revivalism shifts people’s relationships to religion, family, culture, and nation through constructing new forms of community. Through ISKCON, devotees partake in a form of Hindu belonging that foregrounds discourses of choice, belief, and rationality over family and inherited traditions, embodying a Hindu traditionalism that is profoundly modern. This study also provides a vivid example of how transnational organizations shape local religion. As ISKCON fashions devout religious identities amidst urban spaces, such as college campuses, corporate wellness retreats, and Bollywood celebrity events, it promotes a religious Hindu modernity that reflects elite urban Indian aspirations and aesthetics.