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The notion of deeper experiences of Hindu devotees inspired by divine images and sacred places has roots in the historical past, going back to the Vedic period (ca. 2500 BCE), where we find rich literature on performances, rituals and merits of pilgrimages. Considered the bridge between human beings and divinities, the experiences received are the resultant ‘blissful fruit’ (phala) that helps the spiritual healing of pilgrims through awakening conscience and understanding the manifested meanings, symbolism, purposes and gains. This system can be viewed concerning the ‘texts’ (the mythology, ancient text and related narratives) and the ‘context’ (contemporality and living tradition). These rules and performances have regional perspectives of distinctions, but they also carry the sense of universality, i.e. locality (sthānic) and universality (sarvavyāpika) interfaces. The devout Hindus reflect their experiences in conception, perception, reception and co-sharedness – altogether making the wholistic network of belief systems, i.e. the religious wholes in Hindu society. This chapter deals with four aspects: the historical and cultural contexts, the meanings and merits received, the motives and the journey and interfacing experiences. The study is based on the experiential and questionnaire-based exposition and interviews of pilgrims at nine holy places during 2015–2019 on various festive occasions and is illustrated with ancient texts and treatises. The sacred cities included are Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gaya, Ayodhya, Vindhyachal, Ganga Sagar, Chitrakut, Mathura Vrindavana and Bodh Gaya.

Among the several sub‐themes for this Special Issue this paper aims to deal, broadly, with the Hindu view of economics and allied matters.

The approach is a conceptual one that highlights a few crucial aspects of the “positive” flank of Hinduism vis‐à‐vis its “normative” dimension. Researchers, thinkers, scholars and, above all, some important but ignored realizers of Hindu psycho‐philosophy, have been dug into for materials comprising the paper.

The findings clearly show that the amazing sustainability of Bharat's (i.e. India's) socio‐economic processes, structures and systems, despite the tortures of history visiting her, can be explained by her abiding fidelity to the eternal as the basis of the temporal. This is the very foundation of the sacro‐secular character of Hindu culture.

The expected impact is long‐term through deep‐structure germination on a wide tract. Hurried practical application in tiny fractions is not intended as this will be premature and superficial.

The contents of this paper are meant to generate a holistic and respectful orientation to the forging of constructive links between culture and economics in the context of Hinduism.

India has a marvelous distinction of hosting religious and cultural extravaganzas on an enormous scale, keeping in with its rich lineage and civilizational assortment. The philosophical threads of such festivals are eventually subjective well-being and spiritual awakening. In this context, the authors examine how the visitors' festival motivation culminates in life satisfaction and subjective well-being.

The study follows a theory-driven deductive approach to test the construed relationships. The data were collected from the sites of religious fiesta when the participants were immersed in their cultural fervor. The study uses structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized model.

The study finds that place attachment and life satisfaction empirically mediate the relationship between festival motivation and subjective well-being. However, the relationship between place attachment and subjective well-being is not empirically strong when life satisfaction mediates their relationship.

The study is based on a convenience sample and is limited to the visitors of local religious festivals. Future research must verify the suitability of the model in other types of festivals of other religions and different locations. Also, this research deliberates on the relationship between only four variables. Future researchers could discuss other variables such as authenticity, emotional solidarity, festival images, festival values, religious faith, etc. to develop a more robust model to explain the relationship between festival motivation and subjective well-being.

In India regardless of social strata, people are religiously conscious and inclined toward attending publicly celebrated religious festivals. The scale of these festivals is significant and given the scenario, the local Government has to join hands with the temple administration, local people and visitors to reap the full benefits of the festival. These temple festivals not only foster coordination and involvement among various stakeholders, but also invoke the devotion of the people to jointly organize the celebrations.

As some of the religious festivals go beyond caste, creed and nationality, the celebrations should evolve as multi-cultural mass events uniting the societal cohesiveness, spirit and national culture. The variables chosen and results found in this study will surely support publicizing the significance of religious festivals in the region and provide an idea to the organizers and supporters to develop new strategies to promote similar events.

The results claim several implications for theory and practice. Theoretically, the study contributes to the literature on religious tourism and event management. Practically, the study discussions indicate the importance of disseminating the significance of religious festivals as a platform for local tourist attractions to generate social, cultural and economic benefits.

Caste is the basic structural feature of Hindu society; all social scientists are agreed on this. Since Hinduism is generally recognised to be as much a social system as a religion, its social framework embodying caste rituals has governed the lives of the majority of Indians for hundreds of years. Having deep roots in tradition and enjoying sanction in all religious literature belonging to the pre‐British era, caste has been the dominant principle of social organisation since ancient times. In fact, barring the recent past, Hinduism has always been identified in the minds of most Indians with caste observances. Writes R.C. Zaehner: “…until a century or so ago the acceptance of the caste system was considered by the orthodox to be the sole effective criterion of whether one was or was not a Hindu. In matters of belief it mattered not at all whether one believed in one god or many, or not at all, nor did it much matter on how one interpreted ‘liberation’ or whether one rejected it outright so long as one fulfilled the duties prescribed for one's caste.”

The basis of global business operations in the twenty‐first century is knowledge. The Hindu scriptural reference, the Bhagavad Gita, interpreted as “Celestial Song” or “Song of God,” is quickly becoming a critical resource in this relatively new paradigm. This paper aims to draw lessons from this.

The Gita is a summary of the essence of Hindu teaching and wisdom. It is a philosophical foundation from which a deeper understanding of successful solutions to management leadership issues and business practices are emerging. The paper focuses on an analysis of the primary elements found in the Gita.

The Gita's essence of Yoga, Dharma, Dhyana, Samabhava, Nishkama Karma, and Tat‐Twam‐Asi provides the keys for influencing contemporary management thought and global business practices. Yoga is the gaining of mastery over the body and mind through self‐discipline. Dharma focuses on finding a higher calling or mission in life and a calling to fulfill one's purpose or duty. Dhyana encompasses the process of identifying a higher calling by becoming rooted in one's inner strengths and potential through meditation. Samabhava is the calling to interact with the external world in achieving one's duty with equanimity. Nishkama Karma refers to developing a detached involvement by doing one's duty objectively without worrying about the consequences. And Tat‐Twam‐Asi is the recognition of the interconnectedness of nature, the human, and the spiritual. It encourages managers to look at the big picture, a holistic view, for guidance with a realization that there can be no simultaneous winners and losers. When managers change their outlook, success is enhanced.

The paper offers valuable insights into the lessons that can be learned from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita.

The paper aims to understand and expand the idea of capitalist accumulation process from social structures of accumulation theory to religious structures of accumulation within the Indian context. It analyses the philosophical tenets of Hindu religious philosophy as outlined in the Bhagavad Gita. It argues that the ideological narratives within the Bhagavad Gita are concomitant with the logic of capitalism.

The paper draws its methodological lineage to nonlinear historical narrative around the concept and construction of Asiatic modes of production debate. The paper follows discourse analysis to locate how the Hindu religion as outlined in Bhagavad Gita provides philosophical foundation to capitalism in India.

The Bhagavad Gita (Songs of God) gives social and spiritual legitimacy to a specific form of production and accumulation processes by rationalizing and justifying socio-economic stratification based on eternal inequality. The paper focuses on the interface between cardinal principles of Hindu religion as outlined in the Bhagavad Gita and capitalist modes of social and economic processes in India.

The paper aims to advance a new concept called “Hindu modes of accumulation” by advancing the theoretical understanding of the theological processes in the Hindu religion, which reinforces capitalism and capitalist social relations in India.

In a volatile agricultural postharvest market, producers require more personalized information about market dynamics for informed decisions on the marketed surplus. However, this adaptive strategy fails to benefit them if the selection of a computational price predictive model to disseminate information on the market outlook is not efficient, and the associated risk of perishability, and storage cost factor are not assumed against the seemingly favourable market behaviour. Consequently, the decision of whether to store or sell at the time of crop harvest is a perennial dilemma to solve. With the intent of addressing this challenge for agricultural producers, the study is focused on designing an agricultural decision support system (ADSS) to suggest a favourable marketing strategy to crop producers.

The present study is guided by an eclectic theoretical perspective from supply chain literature that included agency theory, transaction cost theory, organizational information processing theory and opportunity cost theory in revenue risk management. The paper models a structured iterative algorithmic framework that leverages the forecasting capacity of different time series and machine learning models, considering the effect of influencing factors on agricultural price movement for better forecasting predictability against market variability or dynamics. It also attempts to formulate an integrated risk management framework for effective sales planning decisions that factors in the associated costs of storage, rental and physical loss until the surplus is held for expected returns.

Empirical demonstration of the model was simulated on the dynamic markets of tomatoes, onions and potatoes in a north Indian region. The study results endorse that farmer-centric post-harvest information intelligence assists crop producers in the strategic sales planning of their produce, and also vigorously promotes that the effectiveness of decision making is contingent upon the selection of the best predictive model for every future market event.

As a policy implication, the proposed ADSS addresses the pressing need for a robust marketing support system for the socio-economic welfare of farming communities grappling with distress sales, and low remunerative returns.

Based on the extant literature studied, there is no such study that pays personalized attention to agricultural producers, enabling them to make a profitable sales decision against the volatile post-harvest market scenario. The present research is an attempt to fill that gap with the scope of addressing crop producer's ubiquitous dilemma of whether to sell or store at the time of harvesting. Besides, an eclectic and iterative style of predictive modelling has also a limited implication in the agricultural supply chain based on the literature; however, it is found to be a more efficient practice to function in a dynamic market outlook.