Description: A theoretically informed cultural study of the design, production, and circulation of Indian calendar art.
Review Quotes: "Gods in the Bazaar is replete with glorious color illustrations, providing a feast for a reader's eyes and much material for thought. . . . Jain is to be commended for her meticulous research and provocative insights, which mark this study of bazaar arts."--Joanna Kirkpatrick, Visual Anthropology
"Gods in the Bazaar is a rich and sophisticated treatment of visual culture in India. . . . Through close reading and ethnographic exploration, Jain provides a compelling account of the way in which these images permeate everyday life and animate the meaning of modernity in postcolonial India. . . . Jain makes an exemplary contribution to the scholarship on how popular art forms intertwine with quotidian practices and gain both meaning and value across communities and over time. . . . Kajri Jain's book is replete with beautiful collection of images ranging from gods and goddesses, to divine babies, to national icons."--Radha S. Hegde, Anthropological Quarterly "[A] world full of surprising diversity, economic ingenuity, and artistic acumen both from the author and her subject."--Stefaan Van Ryssen, Leonardo Reviews "[T]here is no doubt that the author has written a most interesting, illuminative and valuable book on the calendar art of India, which is bound to serve as an authoritative source of reference to scholars and lay people alike for a long time to come."--Singaravelu Sachithanantham, Asian Anthropology "Jain is thoroughly engaged in the literatures of South Asian art history, history, and anthropology, and she makes sustained interventions in religious studies. Her book should command the attention of scholars in all of those disciplines and would be of use in both undergraduate and graduate classes studying modern South Asia. . . . [T]he strength of Jain's account argues forcefully that an understanding of Indian visual culture is essential to an understanding of Indian public culture as a whole."--Karin Zitzewitz, Journal of Asian Studies