VEDANTA SUVARNA MALA. (MUSINGS IN VEDANTA). A contemplation on various important aspects of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, in the tradition of Adi Shankaracharya.

As an invitation to interrogate the secular modality of art, the book unsettles both the categories of 'art' and 'secular' in their theoretical and historical implications. It questions the temporal, spatial and cultural binaries between the 'sacred' and the 'secular' that have shaped art historical scholarship as well as artistic practice. All the essays here are anchored in a conception of a region, whether we call it South Asia or the Indian subcontinent – one, fissured by histories of partition, state formations and religious nationalisms, but still offering a collective site from which to speak to the disciplines of art and the knowledge worlds in which they are embedded. The book asks: How do we complicate the religious designations of pre-modern art and architecture and the new forms of their resurgence in contemporary iconographies and monuments? How do we re-conceptualize the public and the political, as fiery contestations and new curatorial practices reconfigure the meaning of art in the proliferating spaces of museums, galleries, biennales and festivals? How do we understand South Asian art's deep entanglements with the politics of the present?

The largest film industry in the world after Hollywood is celebrated in this updated and expanded edition of a now classic work of reference. Covering the full range of Indian film, this new revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema includes vastly expanded coverage of mainstream productions from the 1970s to the 1990s and, for the first time, a comprehensive name index. Illustrated throughout, there is no comparable guide to the incredible vitality and diversity of historical and contemporary Indian film.

This is a short yet powerful hymn praising Bhairava, comprised of ten epithets of bhairava. the phalashruti - verses describing the benefits of chanting says " One who recites these ten names, having gotten up in the morning doesn’t experience the terrific suffering and will not fear anything, nor does any danger arise in life."

This particular hymn Krishna dvadashanama Stotra comprised of twelve names of Krishna (Vishnu) is claimed to be from Mahabharata. It is said that it has been initiated to Arjuna by Krishna himself. The phalashruti says those who chant this hymn in the dawn are freed from all kinds of sins. Though the source of this hymn is not clear, the twelve names mentioned in this hymn are among the most important names of lord Krishna and we find scriptural evidences that chanting these names individually or in collection purifies us of our sins. This book sheds light on how each of these twelve names help us in cleansing our sins and earning the grace of lord Krishna.

Filming the Gods examines the role and depiction of religion in Indian cinema, showing that the relationship between the modern and the traditional in contemporary India is not exotic, but part of everyday life. Concentrating mainly on the Hindi cinema of Mumbai, Bollywood, it also discusses India's other cinemas. Rachel Dwyer's lively discussion encompasses the mythological genre which continues India's long tradition of retelling Hindu myths and legends, drawing on sources such as the national epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; the devotional genre, which flourished at the height of the nationalist movement in the 1930s and 40s; and the films made in Bombay that depict India's Islamicate culture, including the historical, the courtesan film and the 'Muslim social' genre. Filming the Gods also examines the presence of the religious across other genres and how cinema represents religious communities and their beliefs and practices. It draws on interviews with film stars, directors and producers as well as popular fiction, fan magazines and the films themselves. As a result, Filming the Gods is a both a guide to the study of film in religious culture as well as a historical overview of Indian religious film.