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Author: Brian K. Pennington
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198037295
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
Drawing on a large body of previously untapped literature, including documents from the Church Missionary Society and Bengali newspapers, Brian Pennington offers a fascinating portrait of the process by which "Hinduism" came into being. He argues against the common idea that the modern construction of religion in colonial India was simply a fabrication of Western Orientalists and missionaries. Rather, he says, it involved the active agency and engagement of Indian authors as well, who interacted, argued, and responded to British authors over key religious issues such as image-worship, sati, tolerance, and conversion.
Author: Brian K. Pennington
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198037295
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
Drawing on a large body of previously untapped literature, including documents from the Church Missionary Society and Bengali newspapers, Brian Pennington offers a fascinating portrait of the process by which "Hinduism" came into being. He argues against the common idea that the modern construction of religion in colonial India was simply a fabrication of Western Orientalists and missionaries. Rather, he says, it involved the active agency and engagement of Indian authors as well, who interacted, argued, and responded to British authors over key religious issues such as image-worship, sati, tolerance, and conversion.
Author: David N. Lorenzen
Publisher: Yoda Press
ISBN: 9788190227261
Category : Civilization, Hindu
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
Who Invented Hinduism? presents ten masterly essays on the history of religious movements and ideologies in India by the eminent scholar of religious studies, David N. Lorenzen. Stretching from a discussion on the role of religion, skin colour and language in distinguishing between the Aryas and the Dasas, to a study of the ways in which contact between Hindus, on the one hand, and Muslims and Christians, on the other, changed the nature of the Hindu religion, the volume asks two principal questions: how did the religion of the Hindus affect the course of Indian history and what sort of an impact did the events of Indian history have on the Hindu religion. The essays cast a critical eye on scholarly Arguments which are based as much on current fashion or on conventional wisdom as on evidence available in historical documents. Taking issue with renowned scholars such as Louis Dumont, Romila Thapar, Thomas Trautmann and Dipesh Chakrabarty on some central conceptions of the religious history of India, Lorenzen establishes alternative positions on the same through a thorough and compelling look at a vast array of literary sources. Touching upon some controversial arguments, this well-timed and insightful volume draws attention to the unavoidably influential role of religion in the history of India, and in doing so, it creates a wider space for further discussion focusing on this central issue.
Author: Esther Bloch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135182795
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209
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Book Description
Critically assesses recent debates about the colonial construction of Hinduism. Written by experts in their field, the chapters present historical and empirical arguments as well as theoretical reflections on the topic, offering new insights into the nature of the construction of religion in India.
Author: Jason Ānanda Josephson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226412342
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402
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Book Description
Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of what we call “religion.” There was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning. But when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this Western idea. In this book, Jason Ananda Josephson reveals how Japanese officials invented religion in Japan and traces the sweeping intellectual, legal, and cultural changes that followed. More than a tale of oppression or hegemony, Josephson’s account demonstrates that the process of articulating religion offered the Japanese state a valuable opportunity. In addition to carving out space for belief in Christianity and certain forms of Buddhism, Japanese officials excluded Shinto from the category. Instead, they enshrined it as a national ideology while relegating the popular practices of indigenous shamans and female mediums to the category of “superstitions”—and thus beyond the sphere of tolerance. Josephson argues that the invention of religion in Japan was a politically charged, boundary-drawing exercise that not only extensively reclassified the inherited materials of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto to lasting effect, but also reshaped, in subtle but significant ways, our own formulation of the concept of religion today. This ambitious and wide-ranging book contributes an important perspective to broader debates on the nature of religion, the secular, science, and superstition.
Author: Wendy Doniger
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781594202056
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 808
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Book Description
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms to consider history as a whole.
Author: Asko Parpola
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190226935
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
Hinduism has two major roots. The more familiar is the religion brought to South Asia in the second millennium BCE by speakers of Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Another, more enigmatic, root is the Indus civilization of the third millennium BCE, which left behind exquisitely carved seals and thousands of short inscriptions in a long-forgotten pictographic script. Discovered in the valley of the Indus River in the early 1920s, the Indus civilization had a population estimated at one million people, in more than 1000 settlements, several of which were cities of some 50,000 inhabitants. With an area of nearly a million square kilometers, the Indus civilization was more extensive than the contemporaneous urban cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Yet, after almost a century of excavation and research the Indus civilization remains little understood. How might we decipher the Indus inscriptions? What language did the Indus people speak? What deities did they worship? Asko Parpola has spent fifty years researching the roots of Hinduism to answer these fundamental questions, which have been debated with increasing animosity since the rise of Hindu nationalist politics in the 1980s. In this pioneering book, he traces the archaeological route of the Indo-Iranian languages from the Aryan homeland north of the Black Sea to Central, West, and South Asia. His new ideas on the formation of the Vedic literature and rites and the great Hindu epics hinge on the profound impact that the invention of the horse-drawn chariot had on Indo-Aryan religion. Parpola's comprehensive assessment of the Indus language and religion is based on all available textual, linguistic and archaeological evidence, including West Asian sources and the Indus script. The results affirm cultural and religious continuity to the present day and, among many other things, shed new light on the prehistory of the key Hindu goddess Durga and her Tantric cult.
Author: Shalu Sharma
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781511790178
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122
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Book Description
If you ever wanted to learn about the concepts and fundamentals of Hinduism then this is the book for you. Even though the Hindu religion is the oldest religion in the world, there are many misconceptions that laypeople have about it. Some people don't understand the mystical chants and mantra traditions where they keep repeating "Aum" over and over again. But you have to understand the religion to truly appreciate where these acts and traditions come from. There is a 4000 year history to Hinduism that many people outside of India don't even know about. On top of that, Hinduism has evolved a lot over the years with both oral and ancient stories involving the laws of Hinduism. These stories were often told by sages who passed down their knowledge of the religion to their disciples. Eventually there was a compilation of ancient Sanskrit texts where Hindus could study the ethical and moral code that they needed to live by. However, Hindus for thousands of years have been changing traditions and teaching new philosophies about the religion that help motivate modern day people to become followers. Furthermore, they encourage them to take up Hindu derived practices, like yoga and meditation, in order to help them feel better in their lives. You don't have to be looking to convert to Hinduism to appreciate this book. It is not a book that is going to try to change you or convince you that Hinduism is the one true religion to believe in. This book simply goes over all the important aspects and traditions of the religion, as they are broken down into chapters. That way you can understand the Hindu concepts of God, prayer, meditation, animal sacrifices and reincarnation. These are the key points that people often misinterpret because they see movies or television shows that misrepresent the real Hindu religion. If you are a westerner then this probably means you. The only way you are really going to learn the truth about Hinduism is to either go to India and visit a Hindu school or read through this entire book with an objective mind. If you are thinking about becoming a Hindu then it has to be your choice alone. You first need to study the Vedic scriptures and seek religious guidance from an elder Hindu. This book will simply awaken you to the religious customs of Hinduism and get you familiar with what you are in for. The great part about Hinduism is that you don't need to have a religious affiliation with it in order to learn from its teachings and participate in its traditions. Hinduism is all about establishing a spiritual connection with your soul and the universe. For some Hindus, they don't even reach this point for an entire lifetime. That is why they continuously reach the for the Sanskrit texts and practice their meditations. The chapters in this book: Chapter 1 Introduction to Hinduism Chapter 2 Hindu Philosophy Chapter 3 Concept of Maya in Hinduism Chapter 4 What is Karma? Chapter 5 Soul (Aatma) in Hinduism Chapter 6 Reincarnation in Hinduism Chapter 7 Brahman - The Supreme Being Chapter 8 Why Hindus Worship Idols? Chapter 9 Mantras in the Hindu Religion Chapter 10 Practice of Yoga in Hinduism Chapter 11 Vegetarianism in the Hindu Religion Chapter 12 The Caste System in the Hindu Religion Chapter 13 Popular Hindu Gods and Goddesses Chapter 14 Symbolism of Arms in Hindu Gods and Goddesses Chapter 15 Hindu Swastika Chapter 16 The Aum Chapter 17 Holy books of the Hindus Chapter 18 The Mahabharata Chapter 19 Bhagavad Gita Chapter 20 The Ramayana Chapter 21 River Ganges in the Hindu religion Chapter 22 The cow in Hindu religion Chapter 23 Major Hindu Festivals Chapter 24 Important Hindu Holy places to visit in India Chapter 25 Tips for visiting a Hindu temple Chapter 26 Conclusion
Author: Andrew J. Nicholson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231149875
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282
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Book Description
Some postcolonial theorists argue that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as some Hindus claim, it has its roots in innovations within South Asian philosophy from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. During this time, thinkers treated the philosophies of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga, along with the worshippers of Visnu, Siva, and Sakti, as belonging to a single system of belief and practice. Instead of seeing such groups as separate and contradictory, they re-envisioned them as separate rivers leading to the ocean of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Drawing on the writings of philosophers from late medieval and early modern traditions, including Vijnanabhiksu, Madhava, and Madhusudana Sarasvati, Nicholson shows how influential thinkers portrayed Vedanta philosophy as the ultimate unifier of diverse belief systems. This project paved the way for the work of later Hindu reformers, such as Vivekananda, Radhakrishnan, and Gandhi, whose teachings promoted the notion that all world religions belong to a single spiritual unity. In his study, Nicholson also critiques the way in which Eurocentric concepts—like monism and dualism, idealism and realism, theism and atheism, and orthodoxy and heterodoxy—have come to dominate modern discourses on Indian philosophy.
Author: Amrutur V. Srinivasan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470878584
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 397
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Book Description
Your hands-on guide to one of the world's major religions The dominant religion of India, "Hinduism" refers to a wide variety of religious traditions and philosophies that have developed over thousands of years. Today, the United States is home to approximately one million Hindus. If you've heard of this ancient religion and are looking for a reference that explains the intricacies of the customs, practices, and teachings of this ancient spiritual system, Hinduism For Dummies is for you! Provides a thorough introduction to this earliest and popular world belief system Information on the rites, rituals, deities, and teachings associated with the practice of Hinduism Explores the history and teachings of the Vedas, Brahmans, and Upanishads Offers insight into the modern daily practice of Hinduism around the world Continuing the Dummies tradition of making the world's religions engaging and accessible to everyone, Hinduism For Dummies is your hands-on, friendly guide to this fascinating religion.
Author: Jan Peter Schouten
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900442007X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
In The European Encounter with Hinduism Jan Peter Schouten offers an account of European travellers coming into contact with the Hindu religion in India. From the thirteenth century on, both traders and missionaries visited India and encountered the exotic world of Hindus and Hinduism. Their travel reports reveal how Europeans gradually increased their knowledge of Hinduism and how they evaluated this foreign religion. Later on, although officials of the colonial administration also studied the languages and culture of India, it was – contrary to what is usually assumed – particularly the many missionaries who made the greatest contribution to the mapping of Hinduism.
