Buddhism originally began as a cult around the figure of lord Buddha. It was given a lot of importance since the various kings of Kashi and Magadha adopted its practices under the influence of Buddha. It then diffused gradually to various parts of the nation and world. It came to vogue largely because of its simplicity of rituals and no demand on members in comparison to Brahmanical Hinduism. It was also a great vehicle for cultural exchange for it spread to countries of South East and East Asia too, thus giving us cultural exchange. Modern Buddhism is largely absent in India apart from some pockets of Tantric Buddhism in Ladakh and NE India. Even Ambedkar released it new life by converting and starting NavBauddha movement for emancipation of Dalits through conversion. The neighbouring countries on East are largely Buddhist and thus form a good cultural backbone in Geo-Political International Relations. Thus, we see that Buddhism is as relevant today for social emancipation and cultural exchange as it was in ancient times. 1(c) Robert Redfield gave the theory of Little Tradition and Great Tradition in his study of Mexican village as a theory of cultural change in society. In India it was applied by Milton Singer and Mckim Marriott in their studies.

Answered by 1 topper · CSE 2021

Syllabus: Perspectives on the study of Indian society: (a) Indology (G.S. Ghurye). (b) Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas). (c) Marxist sociology (A R Desai).