This book offers a translation of the seven thousand verses of the second book of the medieval Hindu text, the Ganesa Purana, one of two Puranas dedicated to the important elephant-headed god. In this book the reader is given many narratives about Ganesas ascent to earth in order to kill demonic figures who threaten to overthrow the correct world order. In addition, these narratives contain myths about Ganesa's birth and family as well as some extended and quite humorous myths about ideal devotees of the god.The translation is preceded by a long introduction offering a geographical and historical context for the GanesaPurana. Following the translation are very extensive notes which bring our points of philological interest, but focus mainly on the literary structure of the text and the methods used to present the many myths and narratives in a coherent and fully integrated manner.

The present book attempts to supplement the work of Pargiter on the Cultural plane. Pargiter was concerned with the dynastic records of the Puranic texts while this book aims to interpret cultural history from the Vayu Purana. The work is divided into ten chapters arranged systematically. The first five chapters contain facts of intellectual culture and the last five of material culture. The presentation of material has involved a great deal of translation and interpretation of the Puranic text. The work has two appendices and a critical introduction. Appendix A identifies the places and tribes. Appendix B describes the centres of pilgrimage. Introduction surveys the previous research on the Puranas, on the Vayu particularly. It discusses the antiquity of the Vayu, its value for the cultural history and the method followed in the present investigation. It also gives an outline of political history as found in the Vayu Purana. This book is valuable not only for Indian Culture, but also for a critical edition of Vayu, and consequently of other Purana material.

Lord Ganesha is the Favourite Deity of not only the Hindus but also of most people following other religious faiths. He is not only popular in India but also across the globe. The innumerable temples built for this Deity in every village , every town, every city, every state and every country all over the world is a testimony to the growing faith on this Lord amongst people. It’s the traditional faith among the Hindu Community that Lord Ganesha also known as Vinayaka, Ganapati, Vighneshwara etc annihilates any and every obstacle and impediment that may block the path to success in One’s endeavour. Hence it’s common that Vinayaka is propitiated at the beginning of any Initiative, any auspicious Function or ceremony. Unlike other Deities of Hindu Faith, many aspects of Lord Ganapati including His physical appearance kindles intrigue in everyone. He has an abnormally huge human body but from head to neck he resembles an elephant. There are eighteen Mahapuranas and many Upa Puranas and Ganesha Purana is one among them.

Same-Sex Love in India presents a stunning array of writings on same-sex love from over 2000 years of Indian literature. Translated from more than a dozen languages and drawn from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern fictional traditions, these writings testify to the presence of same-sex love in various forms since ancient times, without overt persecution. This collection defies both stereotypes of Indian culture and Foucault's definition of homosexuality as a nineteenth-century invention, uncovering instead complex discourses of Indian homosexuality, rich metaphorical traditions to represent it, and the use of names and terms as early as medieval times to distinguish same-sex from cross-sex love. An eminent group of scholars have translated these writings for the first time or have re-translated well-known texts to correctly make evident previously underplayed homoerotic content. Selections range from religious books, legal and erotic treatises, story cycles, medieval histories and biographies, modern novels, short stories, letters, memoirs, plays and poems. From the Rigveda to Vikram Seth, this anthology will become a staple in courses on gender and queer studies, Asian studies, and world literature.

The Puranas, as suggested by their name, describe events deep in the earth’s past. Finding a complete cosmology in the ancient Puranic texts that is mostly aligned to the view of cutting-edge science is almost incredible. This book attempts to do so – through an exploratory analysis. The narrative is pieced together by exploring familiar stories from the Puranas in great depth. In the well-known story of the Descent of Ganga, the extra-terrestrial origin of Earth’s waters has been described in amazing detail. The story of the birth of the Sun God Martanda bears a striking resemblance to the origin of the sun. The Churning of the Milk Ocean recounts the re-appearance of the Moon. The book delves into many such stories along with external evidence to come up with a compelling chronicle of our Universe. The book shows the Puranic texts in a fascinating new light. It also serves as a primer to the general interest reader by tackling some of the questions that modern science is grappling with in its study of the cosmos.

This book examines the complete Ganesh for the first time. Here is the God in his multiple forms from the different geographical areas in Asia. Particularly important are chapters that deal with his Buddhist and Tantric forms. The controversial question of his origins is also thoroughly discussed.

Ganesa commands universal respect among the indigenous relegious schools and sects of the Hindus, Jainas and Buddhists. He is a God who is unique in many ways - his peculiar physiognomy, his double characters, as a vighnaharta (creator of obstacles) and as a vignaharta (remover of obstacles). He is worshiped first to ensure success of all religious and secular functions and enterprises, traces the origin and development of pauranic Ganesa, analyses his distinctive features and studies his representation in art both in India and in the other countries of Asia.