Download or read book The Himalayas written by Andrew J. Hund and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-06-15 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thorough and detailed resource that describes the history, culture, and geography of the Himalayan region, providing an indispensable reference work to both general readers and seasoned scholars in the field. The Himalayas: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture serves as a convenient and authoritative reference for anyone exploring the region and seeking to better understand the history, events, peoples, and geopolitical details of this unique area of the world. It explores the geography and details of the demographics, discusses relevant historical events, and addresses socioeconomic movements, political intrigues and controversies, and cultural details as to give an overarching impression of the region as a coherent and cohesive whole. Readers will come away with a vastly heightened understanding of the geographical region we recognize as the Himalayas, and grasp the issues of geography, history, and culture that are central to contemporary understandings of the human culture in the region. The alphabetically arranged and succinct entries provide easy access to detailed, authoritative information. Additionally, sidebars throughout the book relate compelling facts that point readers to new and interesting avenues of exploration. The volume also includes a chronological overview of the region, ten primary source documents, and a comprehensive bibliography of supporting works.
Download or read book The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess written by Ehud Halperin and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book offers a portrait of Haḍimbā, a primary village goddess in the Kullu Valley of the West Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, a rural area known as the Land of God. Drawing on diverse ethnographic and textual materials The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess is rich with myths and tales, accounts of dramatic rituals and festivals, and descriptions of everyday life in the celebrated but remote Kullu Valley. The book portrays the goddess in varying contexts that radiate outward from her temple to local, regional, national, and indeed global spheres. The result is an important contribution to the study of Indian village goddesses, lived Hinduism, Himalayan Hinduism, and the rapidly growing field of religion and ecology"--
Download or read book Naga Cults and Traditions in the Western Himalaya written by Omacanda Hāṇḍā and published by Indus Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Detailed And Comprehensive Study On Snake Cults And Traditions In Western Himalayas-Traces The Genesis Of Snake Cults Among Pre-Historic Committies Of North Indian Mainland-How It Spread To Western Himalayas. 8 Chapters-4 Appendices-Bibliography-Index-75 Illustrations Mainly In Colour With Some In Black And White.
Download or read book River and Goddess Worship in India written by R.U.S. Prasad and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-08-09 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sarasvati assumes different roles, a physical river and a river goddess, then as a goddess of speech and finally that of a goddess of learning, knowledge, arts and music. References to Sarasvati in the Vedas and the Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and the Puranas and her marked presence in other religious orders, such as Buddhism, Jainism and the Japanese religion, form the basis of discussion as regards her various attributes and manifestations. In Jainism, her counter-part is Sutra-devi, in Buddhism it is Manjusri and Prajnaparamita and in the Japanese religion, Benten is the representative goddess. The physical presence of Sarasvati in various iconic forms is seen in Nepal, Tibet and Japan. Tantrism associated with Sarasvati also finds reflection in these religious traditions. Sculptors and art historians take delight in interpreting various symbols her iconic forms represent. The book examines Sarasvati’s origin, the course of her flow and the place of her disappearance in a holistic manner. Based on a close analysis of texts from the early Rig-Veda to the Brahmanas and the Puranas, it discusses different view-points in a balanced perspective and attempts to drive the discussions towards the emergence of a consensus view. The author delineates the various phases of Sarasvati’s evolution to establish her unique status and emphasise her continued relevance in the Hindu tradition. The book argues that the practice of pilgrimage further evolved after its association with the river Sarasvati who was perceived as divinity personified in Hindu tradition. This, in turn, led to the emergence of numerous pilgrimage sites on or near her banks which attracted a large number of pilgrims. A multifaceted and interdisciplinary analysis of a Hindu goddess, this book will be of interest to academics researching South Asian Religion, Hinduism and Indian Philosophy as also the general readers.
Download or read book Hollywood to the Himalayas written by Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati and published by Jaico Publishing House. This book was released on 2022-10-07 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Journey of Healing and Transformation An enlightening memoir of a reluctant spiritual seeker who finds much more than she bargained for when she travels to India. Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, from Hollywood, California, had a privileged upbringing that hid some dark secrets. She grappled with an eating disorder and trauma from her early childhood for years. But, as a Stanford grad getting her PhD in Psychology, she felt she was successfully navigating adulthood. After getting married, when she agreed to travel to India to appease her husband, little did Sadhviji know a journey of healing and awakening awaited her. She had everything the material world could offer. Soon, she would give it all up to follow the divine path. Hollywood to the Himalayas describes Sadhviji’s odyssey towards divine enlightenment and inspiration through her extraordinary connection with her guru and renewed confidence in the pleasure and joy that life can bring. Now one of the preeminent female spiritual teachers in the world, Sadhviji recounts her journey with wit, honesty, and clarity. Along the way, she offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really are—embodiments of the Divine. Americanborn Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, PhD, moved to India in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, she was ordained by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president of one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, into the tradition of sanyas and lives at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, where she leads a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, gives spiritual discourses, and counsels individuals and families. Americanborn Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, PhD, moved to India in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, she was ordained by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president of one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, into the tradition of sanyas and lives at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, where she leads a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, gives spiritual discourses, and counsels individuals and families.
Download or read book The Divine Couple Lord Agastya and Devi Lopamudra written by Devi Amma and published by Gurulight. This book was released on 2024-05-23 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few know the peerless Lord Agastya and His Consort, Devi Lopamudra, who lived through countless ages, upholding righteousness on Earth and vastly contributing to its knowledge and human evolution. Lord Agastya remains anonymous, hiding His true stature from the world. His Consort, Devi Lopamudra, is even more secretive, concealing Her role as the Universal Mother nurturing Earth and humankind. At fifteen, They blessed me by becoming my spiritual parents. It took six and a half decades for Them to finally relent and reveal a tiny sliver about Them and Their lives to the world. Their endless grace and bountiful mercy made Them give this lifeline to humanity, desperately struggling to be free from suffering. I feel incredibly fortunate and deeply grateful to present Them in Their true majesty and grandeur, hoping genuine seekers will connect to Them with trust and faith as I did, taste Their Divine Nectar and march toward immortality.
Download or read book History and Culture of Ancient Gandh ra and Western Himalayas written by Bhushan Kumar Kaul Deambi and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Creative South written by Andrea Acri and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume programmatically reconsiders the creative contribution of the littoral and insular regions of Maritime Asia to shaping new paradigms in the Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture of the mediaeval Asian world. Far from being a mere southern conduit for the maritime circulation of Indic religions, in the period from ca. the 7th to the 14th century those regions transformed across mainland and island polities the rituals, icons, and architecture that embodied these religious insights with a dynamism that often eclipsed the established cultural centres in Northern India, Central Asia, and mainland China. This collective body of work brings together new research aiming to recalibrate the importance of these innovations in art and architecture, thereby highlighting the cultural creativity of the monsoon-influenced Southern rim of the Asian landmass. "Although Maritime Asia in mediaeval times was not as densely populated as the agrarian hinterland, Asia’s coasts were highly urbanized. The region from southern India to south China was a heterogeneous blend of cultures, leavened with a strong interest in trade. This cosmopolitan society afforded plentiful opportunities for artists to find patrons and develop individual styles and aesthetic sensibilities. In the bustling ports of Asia’s south coast, rulers sought to embellish their prestige and attract foreign merchants by sponsoring the development of monumental complexes and centres of learning and debate. These educational institutions attracted teachers from all over Asia, and in their cloisters they developed new intellectual frameworks which were reflected in works of art and architecture. Scholars moved frequently by sea, influencing and being influenced by other foreigners such as Japanese and central Asians who were also attracted to these places. This very variety has hindered scholarly research in the past. This volume contributes to the endeavour to show how Maritime Asia was not an incoherent jumble of misunderstood influences from better-known civilizations; there was a pattern to this creativity, which the authors in this collection clarify for us. The maritime world of Asia may have lain on the margins of the land, but it provided a physical and intellectual medium through which artistic ideas from east and west flowed freely. Maritime Asia also made significant original contributions which hold their own with those of the hinterland of the Asian continent. Unconstrained by the burden of static hierarchical courts, the peoples of Maritime Asia built on the inspiration provided by a hybrid society to demonstrate a high degree of artistic originality while testing but not breaking the link with conventional iconography."-- Professor John Miksic, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS) "The collective objective of this two-volume work is to give substance to the oft cited mantra that mediaeval maritime Southeast Asia was as much an innovative contributor to, as a recipient, in the cultural conversations that took place across the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea. In bracketing these studies between the 7th and 14th centuries, the editors have drawn into focus two key traditions that are explicated in texts, ritual art and architecture and religious landscapes of this period: tantric Buddhism and esoteric Shaivism. A great strength of these studies is this focus, for which the editors are to be commended. The chapters contain much that represents significant milestones in building new understanding in the field, including overdue recognition of the importance of Southeast Asian esoteric Buddhist practice in shaping Chinese Buddhism. Nowhere did the architects of the religious landscape of early Southeast Asia think of themselves as being on the periphery, or as outsiders, looking in. Rather, they knowingly imbued their tirthas and sacred centres with the same authority as those in India and created religious edifices that were on occasions beyond India’s experience. I highly commend this publication to anyone with an interest in bringing a wider lens to the study of Indian esoteric religious practices and to understanding the relationship of early Hindu-Buddhist Southeast Asia to the wider Asian world." -- John Guy, Senior Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York "The Creative South is a rich compendium of scholarship concerning the religious art of Southeast Asia and its ties to India in the period beginning in the 8th century. It was a time when merchants were crisscrossing the seas from India to China and when advocates of innovative doctrines and rituals were finding ready support among the rulers of the varied kingdoms. From the identification of images embraced by the seafarers to the mysteries of the fire shrines in Cambodian temples, from the funerary beliefs of Odisha to the unique character of the Javanese Ramayana, these eighteen studies provide fresh understandings of the patterns of reception and innovation." -- Hiram Woodward, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Quincy Scott Curator of Asian Art Emeritus, The Walters Art Museum
Download or read book Religion and Modernity in the Himalaya written by Megan Adamson Sijapati and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era. Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.
Download or read book NAKO written by Gabriela Krist and published by Böhlau Verlag Wien. This book was released on 2016-10-10 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nako temple complex from the 12th century is an extraordinary testimony of early Tibetan Buddhism not anymore preserved in today’s Tibet. Endangered by the rough environment, improper treatment and frequent earthquakes, the outstanding monuments were re-discovered by scholars from Austrian universities in the 1980s. The transdisciplinary research project carried out over more than 20 years led to in-depth studies, preservation and model-like conservation of the temples and their artworks.
Download or read book Western Himalayan Temple Records written by Mahesh Sharma and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While numerous studies exist on major South-Asian temples, surprisingly little is known about minor shrines and lesser states . Here fifty-five new documents, in a western-Himalayan script and language, and belonging to a small Siddha shrine, redress this remarkable gap in our knowledge. The documents cover a wide spectrum from revenue grants to those dealing with ritual, pilgrimage, legality and temple-economy thus building a picture of the relationship between state and shrine, and particularly so for the minor centres: their popularity and relationship with major temples; mundane matters; notices, petitions, and law-suits. It becomes clear how lesser states , despite their limited resources, patronized numerous small shrines, along with major temples; and the role played by the Nath-Siddha-ascetics in creating consent-to-rule, acculturation, and constructing hybridity between the Hindu and Tibetan-Buddhist traditions.
Download or read book Languages of the Himalayas written by George van Driem and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-09-12 with total page 924 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Capital and Ecology written by Rakhee Bhattacharya and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-08-28 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume studies the intersection of capital and ecology primarily in one of the most sensitive geographies of the world, the Eastern Himalayan region. It looks at how the region has become a melting ground of neoliberal developmentalism and ecological subjectivities with the penetrating forces of global and state capitalism, economic projects, and complex power relations. The essays in the volume argue that specific focus on energy infrastructure and energy production has pushed technology and capital towards asset building which has had an adverse effect on the environment, labour relations, indigenous knowledge systems, and traditional livelihood practices in the area. They look at assets like mega dams, electricity transmission networks, natural gas grids, infrastructural and developmental projects, and other alternative ventures which require interventions in the natural world and its resource deposits. Interdisciplinary in approach, the volume adopts a variety of lenses — developmentalism, state strategy, indigenous voices, geopolitics, and environmentalism — to provide a unique and alternative narrative on the various dimensions of the ecological risks and livelihood threats. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics, development studies, indigenous studies, and Asian studies.
Download or read book Sri Ramakrishna The Personification of Gods and Goddesses written by Rasipuram Ramabadran and published by Sri Ramakrishna Math. This book was released on with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Meeting God written by and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Huyler provides an introduction to the scope of Hindu beliefs and practices, accompanied by his arresting photographs documenting the spirituality of common men and women in India. 200 color illustrations.
Download or read book Understanding Different Geographies written by Karel Kriz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-10 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book collects revised versions of papers first delivered at the “Understanding Different Geographies Symposium” held in Puchberg am Schneeberg, Austria in 2011. The Symposium focussed on “Communicating Meaning with [Geo]Graphic Artefacts”. The general topics of the chapters cover: - Exploring geographic knowledge - Maps in exhibition spaces - Information and exhibition design with (geo)graphic artefacts - Extracting meaning from visualisations of different geographies - Deconstructing maps of information - and other spaces
Download or read book Offering Flowers Feeding Skulls written by June McDaniel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-08-05 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 'Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls', June McDaniel provides an overview of Bengali goddess worship or Shakti. She identifies three major forms of goddess worship, and examines each through its myths, folklore, songs, rituals, sacred texts, and practitioners, tracing these strands through Bengali culture.
