The centenary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is more than a milestone in the history of a voluntary organisation. It is an occasion to examine how an institution founded in colonial India has survived political upheavals, ideological conflicts and repeated attempts to marginalise it, emerging a century later as a formidable force in the country’s public life. Its principal achievement has been organisational: the creation of a durable network that connects local com