Did Srinivas reduce religion to function?

He asked what rites do for groups. He still recorded belief; the stress is on structure, not on theology.

Are Coorgs outside Hinduism?

He shows a distinctive local style that is still ranked in a Hindu ritual field.

Elaborate Srinivas's views on religion and society among the Coorgs

Revision summary

Open summary Close summary

Srinivas studied Coorg religion as observed social structure. The okka and ancestor cult knit kin and land. Hinduism appears as graded ritual interaction, not a church of equals. Sanskritization and local dominance already organise prestige. The monograph founds his later field view of Indian society.

Model answer

Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.

Introduction

M. N. Srinivas’s Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India treats religion as social structure, not as private belief. Among Coorgs, cult, kin, and caste make one living system.

Body

Field view of religion

Srinivas refused an Indological India of texts alone. Coorg ritual is observed in the okka, the ancestral house, and the village.
Religion here is solidarity: ancestor worship, festivals, and purity rules knit the joint family and rank Coorgs against neighbours.
Structure is the network of groups. Function is what a rite does for order, as a funeral or harvest rite renews the okka.

Caste, Hinduism, and the Coorgs

Coorgs appear as a locally dominant landed group whose ritual style is both distinctive and tied to wider Hindu practice.
Sanskritization is already in view: prestige comes from copying a higher local model while remaining inside caste.
Temples, priests, and pollution rules show Hinduism as graded interaction, not as one church of equal believers.

Method

The Coorg monograph is the seed of Srinivas’s later Rampura tools: field view, dominant caste, and change inside structure.
A. R. Desai would still say harmony language underplays class on the land.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  C[Coorg field] --> O[Okka ancestor cult]
  O --> R[Religion as solidarity]
  R --> SK[Sanskritization caste rank]

Conclusion

For Srinivas, Coorg religion is society in ritual form: okka, ancestor, and caste rank. The study founded a field sociology of Hinduism as lived relations, not as a book of doctrines.

Quick related

Students also ask

How do you understand the 'minority' question ? Examine the violence and discrimination against the religious minorities in India
Next question on this syllabus topic (2019 · Q4(b)). View answer →
Did Srinivas reduce religion to function?

He asked what rites do for groups. He still recorded belief; the stress is on structure, not on theology.
Are Coorgs outside Hinduism?

He shows a distinctive local style that is still ranked in a Hindu ritual field.

Same topic · past papers

UPSC has asked this before

These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.

2018 · Q2(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
Analyse A.R. Desai's views on India's path of development.
View answer →
2015 · Q1(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Verrier Elwin's views on freedom for the tribals
View answer →