This book is an analysis of the relations of state, religion and politics in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It represents research and reflection at various times over the period of a decade, and a growing conviction that religion-state relations need to be studied from a comparative and historical point of view. The central focus is the important position Hindu temples occupy in modern Tamil Nadu politics, and the state's role in regulating and shaping them. Temples are significant in a multitude of ways in south Indian society and economy, and throughout the modern era have attracted the attention of governments and politicians
