How Colonial Rule Broke Temple Economies and Reshaped Hindu Worship
The Temple as an Economic InstitutionBefore the British reorganised the subcontinent's revenue systems, a major temple was not primarily a place of prayer. It was a redistributive engine. Endowments called devadaya or devasthanam lands, granted by rulers, merchants, and local chieftains across dynasties from the Cholas to the Vijayanagara empire,…
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