Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction : religion and identities in post-Panchayat Nepal / David N. Gellner and Chiara Letizia -- Part I. Contrasting Urban and Rural Views: Secularism, Individualism, and Blood Sacrifice: 2. Ideas of secularism in the contemporary Nepal / Chiara Letizia ; 3. 'When gods return to their homeland in the Himalayas' : Maoism, religion, and change in the model village of Thabang, mid-western Nepal / Ina Zharkevich ; 4. Neither statues nor ritual : an analysis of new religious movements and therapists in Nepal / Gérard Toffin ; 5. 'Living goddesses everywhere?' : on the possession of women by the goddess Bhagavati in some mountain villages of eastern Nepal / Pustak Ghimire ; 6. Blood sacrifice in Nepal : transformations and criticism / Axel Michaels ; 7. Ancestor worship and sacrifice : debates over Bahun-Chhetri clan rituals (Kul Puja) in Nepal / Krishna P. Adhikari and David N. Gellner -- Part II. Ethnic Traditions Confront a Changing State and Society: 8. State rituals in a secular state? : replacing the Nepalese king in the Pacali Bhairava sword processions and other rituals / Astrid Zotter ; 9. Tamang Lhochhar and the new Nepal / David Holmberg ; 10. Redefining Kiranti religion in contemporary Nepal / Martin Gaenszle ; 11. Confrontations between Maoists and Buddhists in Nepal : historical continuities, flux, and transformations in collective myth and practice / Brigitte Steinmann ; 12. Tamang Christians and resituating of religious difference / Ben Campbell -- Afterword : Nepalese secularism in comparative perspective / Rajeev Bhargava.

"Nepal has passed through dramatic changes in the last thirty years, including a Maoist revolution, the transition from monarchy to republic, three new constitutions, the declaration of secularism, and intense globalization. What happens to religion under conditions of rapid social and political change? Is religion still a valid means of coping with the world? How do citizens of the former Hindu kingdom understand secularism? How do changing public festivals reflect and/or create new group identities? Is religion becoming more privatized? Is the link to healing practices transforming or not, and if so, how? Is the gap narrowing between the cultural worlds of town and country? In an attempt to answer these questions, twelve anthropologists and ethno-Indologists of Nepal provide case studies focused on secularism, secularization, individualism, spirit possession, animal sacrifice, the role of state functionaries in festivals, the creation of new ethnic festivals, clashes and synergies between Maoism and Buddhism, and conversion to Christianity. In his Afterword Rajeev Bhargava analyses the experience of Nepal in comparative perspective and asks whether Nepal is finding its own solution to the conundrum of secularism"-- Publisher's website.