Download or read book Hindu Arms and Ritual written by Robert Elgood and published by Eburon Academic Publishers, Utrecht. This book was released on 2004 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most studies of Indian armor have concentrated on Mughal arms from northern India, and there has been no serious study of Hindu arms since the nineteenth century. Robert Elgood seeks to fill this scholarly gap with Hindu Arms and Ritual, a new and richly illustrated study that examines pieces from the Tanjore Palace Armory in south India. Tanjore arms reveal a wealth of information about Hindu warrior society through the intricate and symbolic iconography carved on them. As Elgood shows, inscribed gods, goddesses, and sacred animals and plants infused the weaponry with divine powers of assistance. Drawing on evidence from various sources, such as ancient manuscripts and contemporary art, Elgood also challenges the commonly held opinion that most south Indian arms date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Instead, he argues, many pieces were made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are attributable to the Vijayanagara and Nayaka courts. This beautifully illustrated work is an invaluable contribution to the historical study of Indian arms and material culture.
Download or read book An Introduction to Indian Arms and Armour written by Hugh Pearce Pearson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: India is a vast sub-continent, with a complex history and a great array of languages, cultures and religions. This short introduction to one aspect of that great culture is intended merely as an appetiser, and is by no means intended as the last word on any aspect of Indian arms and armour. By 'India' I mean the whole Indian sub-continent rather than any political term. The history which forms a background to the story of Indian arms and armour saw empires rise and fall, but the remarkable constancy in the exquisite weapons used by their defenders and opponents marks Indian arms and armour out as something beyond mere statehood. was the catalyst to all sorts of studies of Indian culture and it is no accident that much of the pioneering work on Indian arms and armour was carried out by English scholars. The most notable of these, and the author of the first serious study of Indian armour and arms, was William Egerton, Lord Egerton of Tatton in Cheshire, whose catalogue of the collection of the Indian Museum in London (a collection now absorbed into the Victoria and Albert Museum) appeared in 1880. Yet despite a few important works in the 20th century, such as Philip Rawson's The Indian Sword and Russell Robinson's Oriental Armour, and new works such as Robert Elgood's Hindu Arms and Ritual in The 21st Century, the scientific study of Indian arms and armour has not advanced to the level, say, of Japanese arms and armour. armour in the Royal Armouries. Almost all the holdings are concentrated in the period from the formation of the Mughal empire in the 16th century to the end of the 19th century when western firearms technology had been widely adopted, and it is hoped that this small publication will help in making an important western collection of Indian armour and arms accessible.
Download or read book Hindu Manners Customs and Ceremonies written by Jean Antoine Dubois and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 782 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For 30 years the author, a French missionary, lived among the Hindus, adopting their dress and customs and studying their social and religious institutions. The English government found this account of the results of his observations valuable enough to translate and publish it for the use of officials and oriental students.
Download or read book Many Heads Arms and Eyes written by Doris Meth Srinivasan and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1997-09-01 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the first things that strike the Western viewer of Indian art is the multiplicity of heads, arms and eyes. This convention grows out of imagery conceived by Vedic sages to explain creation. This book for the first time investigates into the meaning of this convention. The author concentrates on its origins in Hindu art and on preceding textual references to the phenomenon of multiplicity. The first part establishes a general definition for the convention. Examination of all Brahmanical literature up to, and sometimes beyond, the 1st - 3rd century A.D., adds more information to this basic definition. The second part applies this literary information mainly to icons of the Yaksa, Śiva, Vāsudeva-Kṛsṇa and the Goddess, and indicates how Brahmanical cultural norms, exemplified in Mathurā, can transmit textual symbols. Both Part I and Part II provide iconic modules and a methodology to generate interpretations for icons with this remarkable feature through the Gupta age.
Download or read book Strong Arms and Drinking Strength Masculinity Violence and the Body in Ancient India written by Jarrod L. Whitaker Assistant Professor of South Asian Religions Wake Forest University and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2011-03-16 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jarrod L. Whitaker examines the ritualized poetic construction of male identity in the Rgveda, India's oldest Sanskrit text, arguing that an important aspect of early Vedic life was the sustained promotion and embodiment of what it means to be a true man. The Rgveda contains over a thousand hymns, addressed primarily to three gods: the deified ritual Fire, Agni; the war god, Indra; and Soma, who is none other than the personification of the sacred beverage soma. The hymns were sung in day-long fire rituals in which poet-priests prepared the sacred drink to empower Indra. The dominant image of Indra is that of a highly glamorized, violent, and powerful Aryan male; the three gods represent the ideals of manhood. Whitaker finds that the Rgvedic poet-priests employed a fascinating range of poetic and performative strategies--some explicit, others very subtle--to construct their masculine ideology, while justifying it as the most valid way for men to live. Poet-priests naturalized this ideology by encoding it within a man's sense of his body and physical self. Rgvedic ritual rhetoric and practices thus encode specific male roles, especially the role of man as warrior, while embedding these roles in a complex network of social, economic, and political relationships. Strong Arms and Drinking Strength is the first book in English to examine the relationship between Rgvedic gods, ritual practices, and the identities and expectations placed on men in ancient India.
Download or read book Hindu Manners Customs and Ceremonies written by Jean Antoine Dubois and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 780 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: his reprint of the third and final edition of this classic work will be welcomed by all readers who want to understand Hinduism as it was and in many ways still is. This book is very valuable for the immense amount of information it gives... For what might be regarded as the workaday world of Hinduism... Information which no student can do without. Nirad C Chauduri, Hinduism (Oxford University Press).
Download or read book Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia written by Kaushik Roy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-15 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the evolution of theories of warfare in India from the dawn of civilization, focusing on the debate between Dharmayuddha (Just War) and Kutayuddha (Unjust War) within Hindu philosophy. This debate centers around four questions: What is war? What justifies it? How should it be waged? And what are its potential repercussions?
Download or read book Hindu Rites Rituals Customs and Traditions written by Prem P. Bhalla and published by Pustak Mahal. This book was released on 2006 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rites, rituals and customs play a major role in the life of every person, irrespective of religious affiliations.Right from the time of birth, till a person's passing away and even after it, rites and rituals follow a Hindu, much like a shadow. This book outlines all these practices from the sunrise to the sunset years. It makes for an enlightening reading for Hindus as well as non-Hindus.
Download or read book The Cultural Power of Personal Objects written by Jared Kemling and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2021-12-01 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cultural Power of Personal Objects seeks to understand the value and efficacy of objects, places, and times that take on cultural power and reverence to such a degree that they are treated (whether metaphorically or actually) as "persons," or as objects with "personality"—they are living objects. Featuring both historical and theoretical sections, the volume details examples of this practice, including the wampum of certain Native American tribes, the tsukumogami of Japan, the sacred keris knives of Java, the personality of seagoing ships, the ritual objects of Hinduism and Ancient Egypt, and more. The theoretical contributions aim to provide context for the existence and experience of personal objects, drawing from a variety of disciplines. Offering a variety of new philosophical perspectives on the theme, while grounding the discussion in a historical context, The Cultural Power of Personal Objects broadens and reinvigorates our understanding of cultural meaning and experience.
Download or read book The Book of Hindu Imagery written by Eva Rudy Jansen and published by Binkey Kok. This book was released on 1993 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hinduism is more than a religion; it is a way of life. Its rich and multicoloured history has made the structure of its mythical and philosophical principles into a highly differentiated maze, of which total knowledge is a practical impossibility. This volume cannot offer a complete survey of the meaning of Hinduism. It is an extensive compilation of important deities and their divine manifestations, so that modern students can understand the significance of the Hindu pantheon.
Download or read book Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art written by David G. Alexander and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2015-12-31 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Armor and weaponry were central to Islamic culture not only as a means of conquest and the spread of the faith, but also as symbols of status, wealth, and power. The finest arms were made by master craftsmen working with the leading designers, goldsmiths, and jewelers, whose work transformed utilitarian military equipment into courtly works of art. This book reveals the diversity and artistic quality of one of the most important and encyclopedic collections of its kind in the West. The Metropolitan Museum's holdings span ten centuries and include representative pieces from almost every Islamic culture from Spain to the Caucasus. The collection includes rare early works, among them the oldest documented Islamic sword, and is rich in helmets and body armor, decorated with calligraphy and arabesques, that were worn in Iran and Anatolia in the late fifteenth century. Other masterpieces include a jeweled short sword (yatagan) with a blade of "watered" steel that comes from the court of Süleyman the Magnificent, a seventeenth-century gold-inlaid armor associated with Shah Jahan, and two gold-inlaid flintlock firearms belonging to the guard of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Presenting 126 objects, each handsomely photographed and richly documented with a detailed description and discussion of its technical, historical, and artistic importance, this overview of the Met's holdings is supplemented by an introductory essay on the formation of the collection, and appendixes on iconography and on Turkman-style armor.
Download or read book The Complete Illustrated Guide to Hinduism written by Rasamandala Das and published by Lorenz Books. This book was released on 2017-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hinduism is perhaps the world's oldest major religion. This comprehensive book explores its rich historical and cultural development, from its Indian roots to its vibrant application in the present, global context. The first section examines the origins of Hinduism, exploring the holy texts and their teachings about the self, the law of karma, and the cycle of birth and death. The second part focuses on spiritual practices - the four main paths and the many Hindu deities. The final section analyses Hindu society, culture and arts. This accessible book provides the perfect reference for anyone wishing to explore the compelling faith and culture that is Hinduism.
Download or read book Strong Arms and Drinking Strength written by Jarrod Whitaker and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-13 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jarrod L. Whitaker examines the ritualized poetic construction of male identity in the Rgveda, India's oldest Sanskrit text, arguing that an important aspect of early Vedic life was the sustained promotion and embodiment of what it means to be a true man. The Rgveda contains over a thousand hymns, addressed primarily to three gods: the deified ritual Fire, Agni; the war god, Indra; and Soma, who is none other than the personification of the sacred beverage soma. The hymns were sung in day-long fire rituals in which poet-priests prepared the sacred drink to empower Indra. The dominant image of Indra is that of a highly glamorized, violent, and powerful Aryan male; the three gods represent the ideals of manhood.Whitaker finds that the Rgvedic poet-priests employed a fascinating range of poetic and performative strategies--some explicit, others very subtle--to construct their masculine ideology, while justifying it as the most valid way for men to live. Poet-priests naturalized this ideology by encoding it within a man's sense of his body and physical self. Rgvedic ritual rhetoric and practices thus encode specific male roles, especially the role of man as warrior, while embedding these roles in a complex network of social, economic, and political relationships.Strong Arms and Drinking Strength is the first book in English to examine the relationship between Rgvedic gods, ritual practices, and the identities and expectations placed on men in ancient India.
Download or read book Hinduism Ritual Reason and Beyond written by Ashok Mishra and published by Storymirror Infotech Pvt Limited. This book was released on 2019-08-03 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is journey through 5000 years of evolution of Hinduism, and is outcome of seven years of study to understand the roots of Hinduism. Tracing the genesis of Hinduism to pre-Indus Valley period, the book explains Hindu, Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma, before it takes one through Hinduism's oldest scriptures - the four Vedas, the four components of each Veda, and what they contain. How all original translations of Vedic texts were done by Western Sanskrit scholars, and why their works have left scope for doubt about the fidelity of translations. The yajnas (yagya) like Ashvamedha, Rajsooya, Vajpeya, etc., about which we only hear on TV serials and talk shows, have been demystified. The reader will be taken aback reading the sheer size and scale of Soma yajna, described step by step, in great detail. Hinduism's journey to the Age of Reason, the Upanishads, its encounter with Buddhism, and its transformation into idol worshipping society with many gods and a multitude of stories about its millions of gods is lucidly explained. Puranas, what they contain and what was the reason they were created, has been described and explained next. Hinduism's journey to its modern form - idol worship, the modern puja, detailed description of puja and Sanskaras like Vivaha, their detailed description, the meaning of each action and how they are conducted, the gift to the priest, types of idols, their consecration, all are explained to help a reader understand the why and the how of what we do as a Hindu. The book concludes with a discussion of - Do mantras have power? & Do rituals have meaning?
Download or read book The Cauliflower written by Arthur Alger Crozier and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Medieval Indian Armies 1 written by David Nicolle and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fully illustrated study explores the armies of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain states within what are now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal during the period AD 500–1500, as well as Afghanistan until the early 13th century AD. Following the emergence of a distinct 'medieval Indian' civilization in the Late Classical and Early Medieval periods, there was a prolonged struggle between this civilization and that of the eastern Islamic world, concluding with the rise of the Mughal Empire at the start of the 16th century. In this fully illustrated study, David Nicolle investigates the traditions and enduring conservatism of non-Islamic medieval Indian warfare, notably evident in recruitment patterns and the significance of archery and cavalry. The role and impact of war-elephants, both positive and negative, are also considered, as well as the influence of climate and weather (notably the seasonal monsoon) on warfare in this region. As well as assessing arms and armour – contrasting the advanced technology and high status of Indian weapons (especially swords) with the remarkable lack of metallic armour in the region during this period – the author also explores siege warfare and riverine and naval warfare in South Asia. This book assesses the contributing factors identified by those who have sought to explain why the huge wealth and substantial populations of the traditional non-Islamic Indian states did not prevent their persistent failure in the face of Islamic invasion and conquest.
Download or read book Approaches to History written by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and published by Primus Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History as a social science is arguably more self-reflective than associated disciplines in that family. Other social scientists seem to see little reason to look beyond the paradigm they are developing in the present times. Historians on the other hand, tend to depend on the cumulative process of the development of their craft and the fund of accumulated knowledge. Yet, while this is acknowledged in the practice of research, Historiography in itself as a subject of study has rarely found its place in the syllabi of Indian universities. Knowledge of Historiography is taken for granted when a scholar plunges into research. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has planned a series of volumes on Historiography comprising articles by subject specialists commissioned by the ICHR. The first volume in the series, Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography brings to the readers the first fruits of that endeavour. While the essays encompass areas of research presently at the frontiers of new research, scholars will also find the bibliographies accompanying the essays of significant appeal.
