Book cover of Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India

Book description

'A rare treasure trove.' - Arundhati Roy



'[An] important and timely contribution to the study of religious-cultural populism.' - Pankaj Mishra



'A powerful and original work of historical scholarship.' - Ramachandra Guha'



'Mukul rolls out a remarkably detailed map of print Hinduism.' - Shahid Amin



In the early 1920s, Jaydayal…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book enriched my understanding of how Hindu nationalism framed India’s imagination, not just through politics but also through publishing. Mukul’s minute excavation of Gita Press’s empire enthralled mehow two Marwari businessmen set up a publication house to strengthen militant Hindu nationalism.

What particularly stunned me was the reach of this vernacular press and its publications and how many nationalists legitimized its projecttheir bylines sandwiched between caste orthodoxy and cow protection pamphlets.

The book powerfully showed to me how a ‘spiritual’ enterprise quietly standardized the grammar of Hindutva, making devotion quantifiable, nationalism religious, and majoritarianism sacred.

If you love Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India...

Ad

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India.

Browse books like Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India

Book cover of Hindu Wife, Hindu Nation
Book cover of The Nationalization of Hindu Traditions
Book cover of Hindu Nationalism and the Language of Politics in Late Colonial India

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,278

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, you might also like...

Book cover of The Bridge: Connecting The Powers of Linear and Circular Thinking

The Bridge by Kim Hudson,

The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…

Book cover of And Then They Were Gone: Teenagers of Peoples Temple from High School to Jonestown

And Then They Were Gone by Ron Cabral,

Of the 918 Americans who died in the shocking murder-suicides of November 18, 1978, in the tiny South American country of Guyana, a third were under eighteen. More than half were in their twenties or younger.

The authors taught in a small high school in San Francisco where Reverend Jim…

5 book lists we think you will like!