On Hindu pilgrim center in Vrindāvan, India.

Tourism in Asia is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. Despite the significance of the tourism industry in this area it is under researched. This book addresses this imbalance by providing an edited collection of chapters which explore the domestic and intraregional tourism in Asia.

Nationalistic meccas, shrines to popular culture, and sacred traditions for the world's religions from Animism to Zoroastrianism are all examined in two accessible and comprehensive volumes. Pilgrimage is a comprehensive compendium of the basic facts on Pilgrimage from ancient times to the 21st century. Illustrated with maps and photographs that enrich the reader's journey, this authoritative volume explores sites, people, activities, rites, terminology, and other matters related to pilgrimage such as economics, tourism, and disease. Encompassing all major and minor world religions, from ancient cults to modern faiths, this work covers both religious and secular pilgrimage sites. Compiled by experts who have authored numerous books on pilgrimage and are pilgrims in their own right, the entries will appeal to students, scholars, and general readers.

The Indian religion of Jainism, whose central tenet involves non-violence to all creatures, is one of the world's oldest and least-understood faiths. Dundas looks at Jainism in its social and doctrinal context, explaining its history, sects, scriptures and ritual, and describing how the Jains have, over 2500 years, defined themselves as a unique religious community. This revised and expanded edition takes account of new research into Jainism.

The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies innovatively combines the ways in which scholars from fields as diverse as philosophy, psychology, religious studies, literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics have integrated the study of Sikhism within a wide range of critical and postcolonial perspectives on the nature of religion, violence, gender, ethno-nationalism, and revisionist historiography. A number of essays within this collection also provide a more practical dimension, written by artists and practitioners of the tradition. The handbook is divided into eight thematic sections that explore different 'expressions' of Sikhism. Historical, literary, ideological, institutional, and artistic expressions are considered in turn, followed by discussion of Sikhs in the Diaspora, and of caste and gender in the Panth. Each section begins with an essay by a prominent scholar in the field, providing an overview of the topic. Further essays provide detail and further treat the fluid, multivocal nature of both the Sikh past and the present. The handbook concludes with a section considering future directions in Sikh Studies.

Chiefly political situation of Tibet after 1951.

An introductory guide to the important elements of the world's largest religion, including the Quran, the Pillars of Faith, and the life of Muhammad, as well as Islamic history, customs and rituals, and contributions to world culture. Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice is the ideal beginner's resource on the core elements of a faith that, like Christianity and Judaism, offers a guide to holy living and a path to salvation—one that like other world faiths has inspired peace and war, tolerance and brutality, enlightenment and abysmal ignorance. Essential Islam offers an insightful, objective look at Islam from its inception to the present day, including a discussion of Islamic beliefs about God, history, warfare, marriage, the afterlife, and the relationship between Islam and other faiths. It is a rich source for dispelling misconceptions—for example, only 10 percent of Muslims are Arabic, and only a quarter of those reside in the Middle East—and for understanding tensions between groups within and outside Islam. More importantly, it gives readers a portrait of Islam not as a religion of extremists, but as a dynamic living faith practiced by people of all kinds in virtually every corner of the world.

In this groundbreaking study, Michael Willis examines how the gods of early Hinduism came to be established in temples, how their cults were organized, and how the ruling elite supported their worship. Examining the emergence of these key historical developments in the fourth and fifth centuries, Willis combines Sanskrit textual evidence with archaeological data from inscriptions, sculptures, temples, and sacred sites. The centre-piece of this study is Udayagiri in central India, the only surviving imperial site of the Gupta dynasty. Through a judicious use of landscape archaeology and archaeo-astronomy, Willis reconstructs how Udayagiri was connected to the Festival of the Rainy Season and the Royal Consecration. Under Gupta patronage, these rituals were integrated into the cult of Vishnu, a deity regarded as the source of creation and of cosmic time. As special devotees of Vishnu, the Gupta kings used Udayagiri to advertise their unique devotional relationship with him. Through his meticulous study of the site, its sculptures and its inscriptions, Willis shows how the Guptas presented themselves as universal sovereigns and how they advanced new systems of religious patronage that shaped the world of medieval India.

This Book Provides An Overview Of The Land, Its People, Rich Cultural Heritage And The Numerous Trekking Routes Which Criss-Cross Kinnaur And Spiti.