The upsurge of militant Hindu nationalism in the recent past has brought to the fore questions of who a Hindu is, what Hinduism is and what Hindutva and Hinduism mean to Hindus. If Hindutva is a way of life, who are its followers? And for those who are, how necessary is it that its practice should prevail upon all others? These are questions of great relevance in today’s India.

This book goes beyond the existing enquiry into Hindu identity, nationalism and culture, through the writings of thinkers Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. With characteristic academic rigour and research, Jyotirmaya Sharma offers us original insights into the intellectual traditions that have nourished political Hindutva. The book calls for revisiting those traditions in which Hinduism is seen as being more inclusive and self-critical, at times even of its own fundamental premises.