9. Kalakshepas—Old and New
ONE of the striking ways in which Hindu Revivalism has made itself particularly visible, specially among the Hindu community in Madras, in recent years, is the weekly gatherings in different parts of the city to hear religious discourses by professional preachers. These discourses are known as Kalakshepas in the sacred language of the Kast. What is a Kalakshepa? The word is a Sanskrit compound formed of two simple words meaning "the whiling away of time." The history of the word can be traced to the early days of the earliest of the Puranas.
In the good old times of Ancient India, whenever a king or any great personage celebrated a religious sacrifice, several learned persons from remote parts of the country came, on invitation, to take part in the celebration, their primary duty being to assist in the religious rites. And these rites extended over
