This book presents multi-faceted images of religious experience in the Marathi-speaking region of India. These essays are broadly divided into five section. Section One entitled: The Concept of the Sacred which includes five essays namely "Boy-Friend?": An Essay by Irawati Karve; "The vow" : A Short Story by Shankarro Kharat; One Face of God by Maxine Berntsen; Gods, Ghosts, and Possession by John M. Stanley; and Scattered Voices: The Nature of God by R. N. Dandekar, Anonymous and Narayan Surve. Section Two entitled: The Practice of Faith includes-" A Town without a Temple": An Essay by Irawati Karve : The Ganesh Festival in Maharashtra: Some observations by Paul B. Courtright; The God Dattatreya and Datta Temples of Pune by Charles Pain with Eleanor Zelliot; The Religion of the Dhanger Nomads by Gunther-Dietz Sontheimer: The Birth of a God: Ram Mama of the Nandiwalas by K. C. Malhotra; "On the Road" : A Maharastrian Pilgrimage by Irawati Karve : The Gondhali: Singers for the Devi by Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere ; My Years in The R.S.S. by V. M. Srisikar: Scattered Voices: The Experience of Ritual by D.B. Mokashi and others. Section three entitled Reform and Rejection. This section includes "All That Is You", by Irawati Karve, The Last Kirtan of Gadag Baba by G. N. Dandekar; Orthodoxy and Human Rights: The Story of a Clash by Kumar Saptarishi; The Orthodoxy of the Mahanubhavas by Anne Feldhaus; The Birth of a Rationalist by K. N. Kadam; and Scattered Voices: Refuge in the Buddha by Bebi Kamble and Ulpabai Chauhan. Section Four entitled Coda contains essays namely Bhakti in the Modern Mode : Poems and Essays by Ashok R. Kelkar and Sadashiv S. Bhave. Section Five contains Appendices Glossary, Gods, Goddesses, and Religious Festivals, The Hindu Calendar, Castes. 

Content - Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Notes on the Writing of Marathi Words, I. THE CONCEPT OF THE SACRED, II. THE PRACTICE OF FAITH, III. REFORM AND REJECTION, IV. CODA, V. APPENDICES, Contributors, Selected Bibliography on Religion in Maharashtra, Index