000			02168nam a2200229Ia 4500
003			OSt
005			20241109104911.0
008			210210b2011 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9788173049026
040			_cAL
041			_aEnglish
082			_a305.8095487 TAMB
100			_aTAMBS LYCHE (Harald) _9182953
245			_aBusiness brahmins _bGauda saraswat brahmins of south kanara
260			_aNew Delhi _bManohar Publisher and Distributors _c2011
300			_a362
520			_aVillage studies have dominated anthropological writing on India for a Iong time, though more recently, much has been written on the big cities. This study is original in focusing on a small-town bourgeoisie. Udupi, in South Kanara (north of Mangalore), was just a famous pilgrimage centre, then an administrative unit, until the Gauda Saraswat Brahmins arrived there in the 1890s. They were instrumental in creating a flourishing market and town, and their businesses still form the core of the local economy. Written like a piece of local history, this book tells the story of the town from the perspective of these ‘Business Brahmins’, but it also presents an analysis of kinship, religion and community in a Brahmin caste which, in some ways, does not correspond to the received ideas of Brahmin orthodoxy. As Konkani speakers from Goa, they constitute an ethnic minority as well as the main part of the local bourgeoisie. This blend of caste, class and ethnicity nevertheless merges into a strong and integrated identity, while its various aspects lead the author to take a critical attitude to those who would reduce the complexity of social stratification in India to a single model of the ‘caste system’. Udupi is a small town and easily identified, so no attempt has been made to mask the main actors, by using fictitious names. The author feels that any criticism that may emerge of them is amply compensated for by documenting their important role in building and developing the lively urban community that Udupi is today.
650			_aSouth Kanara /South Canara _9184710
690			_aDakshina Kannada _9182961
906			_a067274
942			_2ddc _cBK
999			_c149571 _d149571