This 2-volume study examines the reality of Hindu worship in northern India from the perspective of its popular manifestation. In rural areas, practical Hinduism differed dramatically from organized Vedic Hinduism and included cult worship of a multitude of local deities which were not formally recognized by the Vedas but exerted a greater influence on the rhythms, meanings and decisions of day-to-day life. Crooke's study may have been the first to look at the religion through eyes other than those of missionaries or the Hindu elite, seeking to fill a gap in European intellectual knowledge of India by documenting living traditions in a serious and accessible manner.
Volume 1:
The Godlings of Nature
The Heroic and Village Godlings
The Godlings of Disease
The Worship of the Sainted Dead
Worship of the Malevolent Dead
Volume 2:
The Evil Eye and the Scaring of Ghosts
Tree and Serpent Worship
Totemism and Fetishism
Animal-Worship
The Black Art
Some Rural Festivals and Ceremonies