It is significant, that both the institutional and ideological aspects of religion have emerged as distinct factors in the social and political life of contemporary societies. The re-emergence and the consolidation of the religious institutions and identities in the social and political life of contemporary societies have given a renewed fillip to the study of religion and religiosity even in so-called ‘secular’ societies. The Baltic State of Estonia presents an interesting example of distinct understanding of religion in its non-institutional form, as a cultural tool to address ordinary concerns of human existence within the socio-cultural milieu of the society and within the non-institutional and syncretic idiom of spirituality. This article aims at presenting a broad overview of religion as a cultural toolbox in the study of contemporary religion particularly in the context of societies that have very limited experience with institutional forms of religion.

Archana Upadhyay, PhD, Professor, School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067

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