The Disguises of the Demon
The Disguises of the Demon

Author: Gail Hinich Sutherland

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1991-01-01

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780791406212

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Among the most ancient deities of South Asia, the yakshas straddle the boundaries between popular and textual traditions in both Hinduism and Buddhism and both benevolent and malevolent facets. As a figure of material plenty, the yaksis epitomized as Kubera, god of wealth and king of the yaks In demonic guise, the yaksis related to a large family of demonic and quasi-demonic beings, such as nagas, gandharvas, raks, and the man-eating pisaacas. Translating and interpreting texts and passages from the Vedic literature, the Hindu epics, the Puranas, Kālidāsa's Meghadūta, and the Buddhist Jātaka Tales, Sutherland traces the development and transformation of the elusive yaks from an early identification with the impersonal absolute itself to a progressively more demonic and diminished terrestrial characterization. Her investigation is set within the framework of a larger inquiry into the nature of evil, misfortune, and causation in Indian myth and religion.

Gates of the Lord
Gates of the Lord

Author: Amit Ambalal

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 0300214723

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The Pushtimarg, a Hindu sect established in India in the fifteenth century, possesses a unique culture--reaching back centuries and still vital today--in which art and devotion are deeply intertwined. This important volume, illustrated with more than one hundred vivid images, offers a new, in-depth look at the Pushtimarg and its rich aesthetic traditions, which are largely unknown outside of South Asia. Original essays by eminent scholars of Indian art focus on the style of worship, patterns of patronage, and artistic heritage that generated pichvais, large paintings on cloth designed to hang in temples, as well as other paintings for the Pushtimarg. In this expansive study, the authors deftly examine how pichvais were and still are used in the seasonal and daily veneration of Shrinathji, an aspect of Krishna as a child who is the chief deity of the temple town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan. Gates of the Lord introduces readers not only to the visual world of the Pushtimarg, but also to the spirit of Nathdwara.

Siamese State Ceremonies
Siamese State Ceremonies

Author: H. G. Quaritch Wales

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-05-23

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1136776362

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To students of Indian Culture interested in tracing the influence of India in the institutions of her Cultural Colonies, as also to Anthropologists, the Religious Festivals and Court Ceremonies, which still remain the most characteristic features of Siamese social life, offer an important field for research. Yet the subject has been little touched by scholars. Therefore a pioneer work of this nature can only be regarded as an attempt to lay a foundation for further studies, and the author hopes that other students—particularly those Siamese possessed of an extensive knowledge of their own literature and customs—may be encouraged to endeavour to fill those gaps which remain in our knowledge of most of the Siamese State Ceremonies. First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.