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Return to ashrams. Renaissance of a spiritual community ideal in modern India

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2016

Abstract

This article deals with the revival of ashrams in contemporary India and presents a brief overview of its development by the end of the 19th century and in the course of the 20th century. The most important ashrams arising from the reformed Hinduism are mentioned in chronological order, from the celebrated Shantiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore up to ashrams founded by Mahatma Gandhi.

Diverse approaches to the idea of an ashram bear witness to the tumultuous changes the idea has gone through in modern times; while at the same time reveal the semantic vagueness of its content.