Two Religious Education Practices at Mayapura, West Bengal : Examples of Community Sustainability Development Indicators

Abstract

This study looks into religious education practices at a traditional pilgrimage site in rural India as indicators of community sustainable de­vel­op­ment. Potentially, a role model for countless similar sites can be evinced, a con­tri­bution to the international development aim of eradication of poverty. By a religious-diversity survey at a public primary school and participant-obser­vation in private scriptural study, secularization theory is contrasted with religious identity. The Caitanya Vaisnava heritage is a traditional form of Hinduism with a long history of peaceful Hindu and Muslim coexistence at Mayapura, West Bengal. The study shows that tangible community de­velop­ment and religious education are compatible if not mutually neces­sary. It is evident that religious education and its impact on community could be added as themes to the international discourse on Sustainable Development Indicators.