In this book, “The Incredible Temple and Sanatan Sanskriti ”author has endeavored to focus on the hindu temples of Karnataka, Tamil Nādu, Kerala & Odisha. They are amongst the most ancient, architectural, archeological and heritage temples. These are eminently known for huge statutes, Mandapas, Towering super structures, Gopuram etc. They all Glorify Hindu Culture and scriptures viz. Puranas, Itihas, Vedas etc. The stories given there are vividly captured on more than life size carvings made from sandstone, soapstone, granite etc. One is awe struck how our ancestors created such masterpieces, with now considered, primitive tools and implements. This book is a tribute to our great forefathers who through their skills, dedication and pains taking labor over the centuries created such poetry in stone.
In this book, "The Incredible Temple and Sanatan Sanskriti "author has endeavoured to focus on the Hindu temples of Karnataka, Tamil Nādu, Kerala & Odisha. They are amongst the most ancient, architectural, archaeological and heritage temples. These are eminently known for huge statutes, Mandapas, Towering super structures, Gopuram etc. They all Glorify Hindu Culture and scriptures viz. Puranas, Itihas, Vedas etc. The stories given there are vividly captured on more than life size carvings made from sandstone, soapstone, granite etc. One is awe struck how our ancestors created such masterpieces, with now considered, primitive tools and implements. This book is a tribute to our great forefathers who through their skills, dedication and pains taking labour over the centuries created such poetry in stone.
This volume examines the multifarious dimensions that constitute the workings of the Hindu temple as an architectural and urban built form. Eleven chapters reflect on Hindu temples from multiple standpoints - tracing their elusive evolution from wayside shrines as well as canonization into classical objects; questioning the role of treatises containing their building rules; analyzing their prescribed proportions and orders; examining their presence in, and as, larger sacred habitats and ritua...
This original book explores the character of cultural governance of arts and cultural institutions in eight countries across five continents. Examining strategy and decision-making at an organisational level, this is the first empirical contribution on cultural policy and management, revealing how it is applied across the globe in otherwise unexplored countries. Concerned with the assumption that ‘one-size fits all’, the chapter authors analyse how cultural governance is managed within arts organizations in a range of countries to assess whether some locations are trying to apply unsuitable models. The chapters aim to discover and assess new practices to benefit the understanding of cultural governance and the arts sector which have as yet been excluded from the literature. As a collection of local accounts, this book offers a broad and rich perspective on managing cultural governance around the world.
Why is the tulsi considered sacred? What is the significance of namaste? Why do Hindus light a lamp before performing a ritual? Why is it forbidden to sleep facing the south? Why do Hindus chant 'shanti' three times after performing a rite? Millions of Hindus the world over grow up observing rites, rituals and religious practices that lie at the heart of Hinduism, but which they don't know the significance of. Often the age-old customs, whose relevance is lost to modern times, are dismissed as meaningless superstitions. The truth, however, is that these practices reveal the philosophical and scientific approach to life that has characterized Hindu thought since ancient times; it is important to revive their original meanings today. This handy book tells the fascinating stories and explains the science behind the Hindu rites and rituals that we sometimes follow blindly. It is essential reading for anyone interested in India's cultural tradition.
In India: A Sacred Geography, renowned Harvard scholar Diana Eck offers an extraordinary spiritual journey through the pilgrimage places of the world's most religiously vibrant culture and reveals that it is, in fact, through these sacred pilgrimages that India’s very sense of nation has emerged. No matter where one goes in India, one will find a landscape in which mountains, rivers, forests, and villages are elaborately linked to the stories of the gods and heroes of Indian culture. Every place in this vast landscape has its story, and conversely, every story of Hindu myth and legend has its place. Likewise, these places are inextricably tied to one another—not simply in the past, but in the present—through the local, regional, and transregional practices of pilgrimage. India: A Sacred Geography tells the story of the pilgrim’s India. In these pages, Diana Eck takes the reader on an extraordinary spiritual journey through the living landscape of this fascinating country –its mountains, rivers, and seacoasts, its ancient and powerful temples and shrines. Seeking to fully understand the sacred places of pilgrimage from the ground up, with their stories, connections and layers of meaning, she acutely examines Hindu religious ideas and narratives and shows how they have been deeply inscribed in the land itself. Ultimately, Eck shows us that from these networks of pilgrimage places, India’s very sense of region and nation has emerged. This is the astonishing and fascinating picture of a land linked for centuries not by the power of kings and governments, but by the footsteps of pilgrims. India: A Sacred Geography offers a unique perspective on India, both as a complex religious culture and as a nation. Based on her extensive knowledge and her many decades of wide-ranging travel and research, Eck's piercing insights and a sweeping grasp of history ensure that this work will be in demand for many years to come.
"A history-making manual,interreligious study and names list, with stories by Westerners who entered Hinduism and Hindus who deepened their faith"--Cove
Handbook of Hinduism in Europe portrays and analyses how Hindu traditions have expanded across the continent, and presents the main Hindu communities, religious groups, forms, practices and teachings. The Handbook does this in two parts, Part One covers historical and thematic topics which are of importance for understanding Hinduism in Europe as a whole and Part Two has chapters on Hindu traditions in every country in Europe. Hindu traditions have a long history of interaction with Europe, but the developments during the last fifty years represent a new phase. Globalization and increased ease of communication have led to the presence of a great plurality of Hindu traditions. Hinduism has become one of the major religions in Europe and is present in every country of the continent.
