This course will cover the range of Hindu rituals that define Hindu life and lead towards the constitution of a Hindu social and religious personhood. They range from the life cycle rituals, to initiatory rituals, to rituals of fasting, festivities, and penance. The course explores how these rituals are part of the Hindu social order, even while they are marked by differences of caste, gender, and religious communities. The course will look at a wide range of textual materials on Hindu rituals including prescriptive texts, ethnographies, and literary accounts. These materials will be explored also within the help of ritual theory in order to understand the relationship between religion, ritual, and personhood.