Belief, Bounty, and Beauty, Rituals around Sacred Trees in India.
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This study is focused on the interaction of material and symbolic values in the domain of sacred trees in India. By presenting samples from 3,000 years of Indian ritual practice, it is shown that in many sacred geographies trees continue to connect the present with the past, the material with the symbolic, and the contemporary ecological with the traditionally sacred. Although in India religion may have become very much a temple cult, its embeddedness in the natural world enhances today's 'green' interpretation of religious traditions. That in environmental matters such religious inspiration may be both successful and highly ambivalent at the same time is the thought-provoking position taken in the final chapters.
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1 online resource. :
9789047415619
Hinduism Reconsidered /
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Contemporary research on Hinduism has thrown up a number of microstudies and new, overall theories giving rise to various questions: Do conventional notions about Hinduism need to be reformulated on the basis of new evidences and modern theories? Is it prudent to interpret Hinduism without an inter-disciplinary and contextual approach? In short, what does Hinduism mean? The above issues were discussed at the IXth European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies held Heidelberg, Germany. This volume contains thirteen papers presented for discussion there - discussions which were lively and thought-provoking - along with four additional contributions. Papers included are: Hinduism or three-thousand-three-hundred-andsix ways to invoke a construct; Hinduism: On the proper use of a deceptive term; Syndicated Hinduism; The emergence of modern 'Hinduism' as a concept and as an institution: a reappraisal with special reference to South India; Religion, reaction and change: The role of sects in Hinduism; Hinduism through Western glasses: a critique of some Western views on Hinduism; Hindu-Muslim interactions in medieval Maharashtra; The concept of the ideal Brahmin as an ideological construct; Hinduism and National Liberation Movement in India: Hinduism as seen by Nizārī Ismā'ilī missionaries of western India: the evidence of the Ginān; Multiple approaches to a living Hindu myth: the Lord of the Govardhan hill; Bhakti and Monasticism; Staying on the goddess's eyelid: devotion and reversal of values in Hindu Bengal; Hinduism in diaspora: the transformation of tradition in Trinidad; The polythetic-prototype approach to Hinduism; Hinduism: the five components and their interaction; Something lost, something gained: translations of Hinduism. The papers reflect a wide variety of opinions on what Hinduism means and are a distinct contribution to our understanding of Hinduism, which cannot be forced into watertight inflexible categories. This is a revised and enlarged edition of the book first published in 1989.
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1 online resource (368 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752962
The Role of Divine Grace in the Soteriology of Śaṃkarācārya.
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This volume examines the role of divine grace in the non-dualist soteriology of Śaṃkara. The author argues that grace is an essential but generally overlooked feature in Śaṃkara's enlightenment spirituality. Introductory chapters summarize recent developments in Śaṃkara research, Śaṃkara's epistemology and ontology, ancient Vedāntic teachings on grace, and modern scholarly disagreement about grace in Śaṃkara's Advaita system. The heart of the book consists of two lengthy exegetical chapters examining Śaṃkara's key passages on grace from his dozen genuine works. The final chapter presents for the first time a systematic summary of Śaṃkara's understanding of the operation and necessity of divine grace. This book provides a useful summary of Śaṃkara's system as a whole besides offering a radical revision of the standard understanding of Śaṃkara's soteriology. It also reveals that Śaṃkara was much more indebted in his thinking to his Vedantic predecessors than had hitherto been thought.
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1 online resource. :
9789004379138
Hindu gods in West Africa : Ghanaian devotees of Shiva and Krishna.
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In Hindu Gods in West Africa , Wuaku offers an account of the histories, beliefs and practices of the Hindu Monastery of Africa and the Radha Govinda Temple, two Hindu Temples in Ghana. Using historical material and data from his field work in southern Ghana, Wuaku shows how these two Hindu Temples build their traditions on popular Ghanaian religious notions about the powerful magicality of India's Hindu gods. He explores how Ghanaian soldiers who served in the colonial armies in India, Sri Lanka, and Burma during World War II, Bollywood films, and local magicians, have contributed to the production and the spreading of these cultural ideas. He argues that while Ghanaian worshippers appropriated and deployed the alien Hindu religious world through their own cultural ideas,as they engage Hindu beliefs and rituals in negotiating challenges their own worldviews would change considerably.
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1 online resource (346 pages) :
9789004255715 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
When the Goddess was a Woman Mahabharata Ethnographies-- Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel. Volume 2.
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Explicitly acknowledging its status as a strī-śūdra-veda (a Veda for women and the downtrodden), the Mahābhārata articulates a promise to bring knowledge of right conduct, fundamental ethical, philosophical, and soteriological teachings, and its own grand narrative to all classes of people and all beings. Hiltebeitel shows how the Mahābhārata has more than lived up to this promise at least on the ground in Indian folk traditions. In this three-part volume, he journeys over the overlapping terrains of the south Indian cults of Draupadī (part I) and Kūttāṇṭavar (part II), to explore how the Mahābhārata continues to be such a vital source of meaning, and, in part III, then connects this vital tradition to wider reflections on prehistory, sacrifice, myth, oral epic, and modern theatre. This two volume edition collects nearly three decades of Alf Hiltebeitel's researches into the Indian epic and religious tradition. The two volumes document Hiltebeitel's longstanding fascination with the Sanskrit epics: volume 1 presents a series of appreciative readings of the Mahābhārata (and to a lesser extent, the Rāmāyaṇa), while volume 2 focuses on what Hiltebeitel has called "the underground Mahābhārata," id est, the Mahābhārata as it is still alive in folk and vernacular traditions. Recently re-edited and with a new set of articles completing a trajectory Hiltebeitel established over 30 years ago, this work constitutes a definitive statement from this major scholar. Comprehensive indices, cross-referencing, and an exhaustive bibliography make it an essential reference work. For more information on the first volume please click here .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004216228 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Do All Roads Lead to Jerusalem? : The Making of Indian Religion /
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Do All Roads Lead to Jerusalem? traces the history of western encounters with other cultures on two occasions - the 'pagans' of Greece and Rome and the 'heathens' in India. The West has produced many descriptions of other cultures. A close examination of these descriptions reveals that they tell us more about western culture than about the cultures the West has attempted to describe. This overarching theme is developed by examining one element in western culture, viz. religion. This book argues that religion is not a cultural universal and the belief that all cultures have religion is an assumption on the part of all scholars of religion. The reason for this is that western culture has been shaped by religion so that members of this culture are conceptually compelled to describe other cultures from within the framework of religion. From Biblical scholarship to the Enlightenment, from the Reformation to the Romantics, from believers to atheists, the cognitive scheme is the same - one that has been set in place by the experiential framework of Christianity. Is it any wonder that members of such a culture saw religion wherever they went? By means of methodical arguments and lucid explanations this book demonstrates that religion is not a cultural universal and explains why it is believed to be so. Scholars in the field of religious and cultural studies will find this work illuminating, original, and deeply compelling.
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1 online resource (308 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004751590
Bharatanatyam Evolves : From Temple to Theatre and Back Again /
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Bharatanatyam is currently one of the most popular Indian classical dance styles, performed throughout India and the world. It originated in southern India, where it was taught by males and performed by female Devadasis, both of whom belonged to the same caste. Traditionally, the dance was associated with Hindu temples and courts and was performed in a variety of sacred and secular settings. Since the early twentieth century, both practitioners of and venues for the dance have expanded. It is now taught and performed globally by people from all castes and nationalities, including teachers and dancers of all genders and religions. Most performances are now public events presented on the concert stage. Anne-Marie Gaston traces the development of Bharatanatyam from its religious and secular roots. She gives details of the teachers who were most influential in the transmission of the dance from traditional to modern practitioners and discusses the role of different interpretations (banis). By describing traditional and modern performances and choreography, she traces changes in the repertoire and presentation that have taken place during the post-revival era. Trends in performances at the MMA, considered the most important venue for Bharatanatyam, are described. Comments from the author's in-depth studies of Bharatanatyam, as both performer and academic, give a historical perspective to the current manifestation of the dance. Her observations are drawn especially from recitals at the Madras Winter Festivals, 2011-15. The volume is profusely illustrated with the author's own photographs.
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1 online resource (180 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004754010
The Village Gods of South India /
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Gramadevatas, or the village gods, are quite popular in the Indian subcontinent. During the ancient and medieval periods, village gods were venerated for religious, political, cultural, and social purposes for their blessings, well-being, divine powers, and good fortune. This book primarily focuses on the village gods prevalent in the southern states of India during the colonial period. It discusses the religion and ritual ceremonies in different parts of south India. Hinduism, and its particular forms, form a significant part of this book. A large part of the book covers the features concerning the religion, names of the deities, characteristics, functions, and the cult associated with each deity. Following this, the book covers the types of worship practiced in modern-day Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Lastly, the book covers folklore, the origins of various deities, and the impact on social systems based on social, moral, and religious aspects.
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1 online resource (196 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752733
Religion and conflict attribution : an empirical study of the religious meaning system of Christian, Muslim and Hindu students in Tamil Nadu, India /
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Religion can play a dual role with regard to conflict. It can promote either violence or peace. Religion and Conflict Attribution seeks to clarify the causes of religious conflict as perceived by Christian, Muslim and Hindu college students in Tamil Nadu, India. These students in varying degrees attribute conflict to force-driven causes, namely to coercive power as a means of achieving the economic, political or socio-cultural goals of religious groups. The study reveals how force-driven religious conflict is influenced by prescriptive beliefs like religious practice and mystical experience, and descriptive beliefs such as the interpretation of religious plurality and religiocentrism. It also elaborates on the practical consequences of the salient findings for the educational process.
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1 online resource (xii, 287 pages) : illustrations, color map. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004270862 :
2213-9729 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Light of devotion : oil lamps of Kerala /
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This in-depth study of the medieval oil lamps of Kerala and beyond considers these art objects as primary sources for a broader discussion on the ritual use of Hindu oil lamps, their related and unique cultural history, their motifs, style and subject matter. From an understudied region, many of the pieces presented are previously unpublished.
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Also issued in print: 2022. :
1 online resource (x, 144 pages) : illustrations (colour) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9781803272559 (PDF ebook) :
One god, two goddesses, three studies of South Indian cosmology /
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One, God, Two Goddesses presents three studies, one of Tamil myths of the god Murugan and two of goddess rituals: Gangamma in Tirupati and Paiditalli in Vizianagaram, both in Andhra Pradesh. All three essays search for lineaments of the cosmos that these deities inhabit and shape. These cosmoi are characterised by the dynamism of their incessant interior movement. Should they become still, they would die. Deities activate and regenerate such a cosmos. The dynamism of Murugan's cosmos eliminates the chaotic. Through ritual, Gangamma regenerates her cosmos through feminising it. Through ritual, Paiditalli annually re-grows the historic little kingdom of Vizianagaram, regenerating its kingship. All three studies point to the need to rethink cosmology in South India.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004257399 :
1570-078X ;
Somarasa : Spirituous Drinks in Ancient India /
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Indians have been drinking some form of wine for the past four thousand years. In spite of it, a kind of pretence pervades the society against drinking of wine. In the Vedic times, Somarasa and Surā were much in common use. Indra, the Vedic deity of war, greatly relished it, and not unoften got inebriated. Interestingly, the ninth book of the Rgveda is fully devoted to Soma, its preparation and use. Similarly, later works like Astādhyāyi, Rāmāya]na, Mahābhārata, Arthaśāstra, Raghuvamśa, Harsacarita, etc. also refer to the popularity of wine among all sections of the society. Dharmaśāstras, however, occasionally speak against the use of wine by the Brāhmanas. Perhaps, the book may help in correcting our hypocritic attitude against wine though abstinence from alcoholic drinks is always beneficial.
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1 online resource (176 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752900
Religion in Society : Social Dimensions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism in India /
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Through an analysis of archaeological and literary data, this book explores two interrelated themes: the socio-economic and cultic processes that resulted in the decline of Indian Buddhism in its last strongholds - Bihar and Bengal - towards the end of the early medieval period, and the patterns of revival of Buddhism in the neighbouring province of Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 ce. These themes have been explored by undertaking an analysis of the developments in the social histories of other competing religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Ājīvika-dharma. By placing emphasis on the religious praxis and behaviour of the non-elite segment of population, this book offers some significant 'from below' perspectives on the social histories of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Ājīvika-dharma in eastern and northern India.
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1 online resource (228 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004753303