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Village studies have dominated anthropological writing on India for a long time, though more recently, much has been written on the big cities. This study is original in focusing on a small-town bourageoisie.

Udupi, in South Kanara (north of Mangalore, was just a famous pilgrimage centre, then an administrative unit, unitl the 1890s. They were instrumental in creating a flourishing market and town, and their businesses still from the core of the local economy.

Written like a piece of local histort, this book tells the story of the town from the perspective of these 'Business Brahmins,' but it also presents an analysis of Kinship, religion and community in a Brahmin caste which, in some ways, does not correspond to the received ideas of Brahmin orthodoxy.

As Konkani speakers from Goa, they constiute an ethnic minority as well as the main part of the local bourgeoisie.Udupi is a small town and easily identified, so no attempt has been made to mask the main actors by using fictitious names. The suthor feels that any criticism that may emerge of them is amply compensated for by documenting their important role in building and developing the lively urban community that Udupi is today.