Online Hinduism

Technological change is a fundamental element of modernity, and an exploration of modern Hinduism must take seriously the role of technology in religious transformation. While the nineteenth century saw the introduction of the printing press as a new tool for mass mobilization, the Internet has become the technological platform for religious innovation and transformation since the last decade of the twentieth century. This chapter gives an introduction to the topic of Hinduism online. It starts by giving a brief overview of the short history of Hinduism online, with the first movements and temples establishing a presence on the World Wide Web from the mid-1990s. Focusing on the core concept of pūjā, the chapter argues that online Hinduism and the wider Hindu tradition are so closely linked that it makes little sense to see the online and the offline as separate realms. In fact, online Hinduism is an integral part of contemporary Hinduism, and the Internet has already spurred interesting questions and dilemmas of theology and religious authority in the Hindu tradition and will certainly continue to do so.