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The volume is a collection of writings that discuss the origins and development of multiple religious traditions and their role in the evolution of a complex socio-religious matrix in pre-colonial India.

The book focuses on rarely-studied aspects like dominance of the Brahmanical tradition in the mainstream religious culture and marginalisation of Jainism and Buddhism. It presents a well-evaluated approach to different aspects of religion—the social base, its role in the evolution of regional and supra-regional states and development of religious communities. It discusses the role of the temple as an institution of socio-cultural integration, an ideological apparatus and a symbol of political authority. Richly illustrated with rare photographs, maps and layout plans, it takes up architecture and iconography as representing the power and authority of the king vis-à-vis the absolute power of god. Delving into the Puranic religion, the Tamil Shaiva tradition, Vaishnava concepts, and the sacred geography of the Murukan cult, it explores aspects relating to caste identities and evolution of communities and the role of ideology in emergence of state societies. Referring to numerous religious and literary sources, inscriptions and other archaeological evidences, it debunks some of the held ideas on religious traditions and argues that, over time, conflicting and even irreconcilable beliefs and practices were incorporated into the tradition commonly referred to as s Hinduism.