You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Hinduism has a rich cultural heritage spanning the past four thousand years or more. In this long epoch starting from the Vedic times and its evolution through spiritual and Puranic periods in a multi-ethnic and multi -linguistic settings, the religion had absorbed many changes and modifications to blossom into modern Hinduism. In this book, an attempt is made to bring out the symbolisms apparent or hidden in the ideas of Hindu mythology, rituals and cultural practices touching some visible parallel thoughts in modern science. Explaining the concept of God in India, the book discusses at length the Hindu mythology of earthly life, cultural advance, network of Hindu godheads, Vedic symbolism, rituals, iconography, marriage customs, temple culture, and music and dance.
This indispensable work for Tamil love poetry of South India deals with the relationship between the oldest grammar and poetics, "Tolk ppiyam," and the ancient literature ("Sangam" literature) of the 1-3 C. A.D., providing the original meanings and historical changes of many technical terms of love poetry.
The temple for the Lord of Vengadam in Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh, India) is one of the richest places of worship in the entire world with ever-increasing popularity, the footfall of devotees on the Seven Hills touching a whopping figure of seventy thousand on weekdays and one hundred thousand during the weekends. The Temple's annual budget hovers around 25 billion rupees. This world record to fame and riches is not without its flip side. The temple has become the focal point for a variety of controversies-some created by the political class, some by historians with an axe to grind, and some more by Hindus with a sectarian outlook. The never-ending dispute is over the identity of the idol as a...
Consciousness about self-identity and history is an offshoot of colonial rule. Governments in independent India that largely inherited the economic and political structure of the colonial rule fueled this consciousness by adopting the policy of caste-based reservation in matters of public utility and services. Manifestoes issued by political parties during elections guarantee relocation of castes. Thus, communities segmented as castes are in constant flux and often claim higher social status while providing data for lower economic status. The Parathavar community that was deeply exposed to colonial rule by the Portuguese, Dutch and English by virtue of being inhabitants of the Pearl Fishery ...
The construction of the past, as a historical agenda, figured prominently in the attempt of intellectuals to modernize society. They realized the importance of being sensitive to their past, which had been misrepresented by colonial rule. The investigation of the past to perceive the present and to conceive a future became integral to their intellectual endeavour. To use K.N. Panikkhar's words, "the intellectual quest in colonial India, engaged in an enquiry into the meaning of the past and thus in an assessment of its relevance to contemporary society, was an outcome of this awareness''. The construction of the past, was initially viewed as pre-requisite to reform. It subsequently turned out to be part of an ant-colonial agenda to retrieve a lost identity. This agenda become very vocal as the national movement reached its mass phase.
A groundbreaking treatment of heritage survival in African and African American cooking.
This is a fascinating study of Lemuria--a mythical continent which was once believed to bridge the land masses of India and Africa millennia ago before ultimately sinking into the Indian sea.
A wide range of sources - by writers, diplomats, tourists, businessmen, and missionaries - documenting the political, cultural and social history of Japan from 1400 to the 20th century.