In Pakistan's northwest, a sequence of temples built between the sixth and the tenth centuries provides a missing chapter in the evolution of the Hindu temple in South Asia. Combining some elements from Buddhist architecture in Gandharā with the symbolically powerful curvilinear Nāgara tower formulated in the early post-Gupta period, this group stands as an independent school of that pan-Indic form, offering new evidence for its creation and original variations in the four centuries of its existence. Drawing on recent archaeology undertaken by the Pakistan Heritage Society as well as scholarship from the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture project, this volume finally allows the Salt Range and Indus temples to be integrated with the greater South Asian tradition.

The Present Study, Divided Into Two Parts, Deals With The Socio-Geographical Mosaic, The Racio-Cultural Background And Discusses The Factors Responsible For The Development Of The Wooden Temple Architecture In The Western Himalayas.

This volume examines the multifarious dimensions that constitute the workings of the Hindu temple as an architectural and urban built form. Eleven chapters reflect on Hindu temples from multiple standpoints - tracing their elusive evolution from wayside shrines as well as canonization into classical objects; questioning the role of treatises containing their building rules; analyzing their prescribed proportions and orders; examining their presence in, and as, larger sacred habitats and ritua...

The Mongol invasions in the first half of the thirteenth century led to profound and shattering changes to the historical trajectory of Islamic West Asia. As this new volume in The Idea of Iran series suggests, sudden conquest from the east was preceded by events closer to home which laid the groundwork for the later Mongol success. In the mid-twelfth century the Seljuq empire rapidly unravelled, its vast provinces fragmenting into a patchwork of mostly short-lived principalities and kingdoms. In time, new powers emerged, such as the pagan Qara-Khitai in Central Asia; the Khwarazmshahs in Khwarazm, Khorosan and much of central Iran; and the Ghurids to the southeast. Yet all were blown away by the Mongols, who faced no resistance from a sufficiently muscular imperial competitor and whose influx was viewed by contemporaries as cataclysmic. Distinguished scholars including David O Morgan and the late C E Bosworth here discuss the dynasties that preceded the invasion - and aspects of their literature, poetry and science - as well as the conquerors themselves and their rule in Iran from 1219 to 1256.

Historic Temples in Pakistan makes a case for keeping ancient emblems of faith alive and for pluralism in a land of irony besieged by unpalatable extremism.

The Temple Architecture In The Himalayas Has Been Wholly Of Wood As Extensive Forests Of Deodar Have Been In Existence Here Since Times Immemorial. The Wooden Shrines, Richly Carved, Are Very Large, Look Picturesque, And Evocative Than The Secular Buildings.

This overview of the religious customs of ancient cultures boasts an international selection of contributors, all of whom are leading scholars in their field. The cultural practices of popular as well as formal religion are explored in detail, giving an impression of all, not only elite societies. Every topic is placed in its own cultural context, while bearing in mind its relevance to a wider historical and sociological debate. The result is an erudite and thoroughly readable handbook to ancient religions, from Palaeolithic cave art to the rituals of Aztec and Inca civilizations.

“Alice Albinia is the most extraordinary traveler of her generation. . . . A journey of astonishing confidence and courage.”—Rory Stewart One of the largest rivers in the world, the Indus rises in the Tibetan mountains and flows west across northern India and south through Pakistan. It has been worshipped as a god, used as a tool of imperial expansion, and today is the cement of Pakistan’s fractious union. Alice Albinia follows the river upstream, through two thousand miles of geography and back to a time five thousand years ago when a string of sophisticated cities grew on its banks. “This turbulent history, entwined with a superlative travel narrative” (The Guardian) leads us from the ruins of elaborate metropolises, to the bitter divisions of today. Like Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between, Empires of the Indus is an engrossing personal journey and a deeply moving portrait of a river and its people.

Hinduism, the Truth is not a sect of a faith or a man-made religion. The Cosmic Truth of Hinduism is non denominational and universal and its founder is unknown. However, ancient Rishis and Saints have nurtured and revived it into what it is today. Hinduisms basic concept is unique with its link to Cosmic Energy , its traditions and culture is also linked to nature. A diagram explaining the distribution of Cosmic energy is explained, is given in this book. Lord Shiva is the Cosmic dancer. It is depicted that Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva is in charge of evolution, for easy understanding by the people. This book deals with speculations about the origin of Hinduism and its association with nature. The design and energy of the Hindu temple and how the energy is associated with the power of Yantras, and Chakras in the human body, mantras and their connection with sound waves, Solar system, and Time. Idol / Deity worship and rituals etc. The book covers the five Ishwarams temples of Shiva, Sakthi, Karthigeya, Vishnu, Kannagi in Sri Lanka, worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists. Hinduism had its origin in the Indus valley civilization. The word Hindu is derived from the Indus river and dates back to over 5,000 years or more. This book also touches the link between the Hinduism and Buddhism. Kannagi (Pathini) and her worship by Sri Lankan Tamils and Singhalese is also explained in the book.