'The Life of Hinduism' collects a series of essays that present Hinduism as a vibrant, truly 'lived' religion. The text offers a glimpse into the multifaceted world of Hindu worship, life-cycle rites, festivals, performances, gurus, and castes.

An authoritative collection on the history of Hindu religious practices. Hindu Practice considers traditions of asceticism, yoga, and devotion, including dance and music, developed in Hinduism over long periods of time.

"A history-making manual,interreligious study and names list, with stories by Westerners who entered Hinduism and Hindus who deepened their faith"--Cove

Huyler provides an introduction to the scope of Hindu beliefs and practices, accompanied by his arresting photographs documenting the spirituality of common men and women in India. 200 color illustrations.

This unique short poem book teaches selected Hindu mantra's to the Kids by taking them through the daily activity of two American born Hindu Kids. Both the Hindi and English version of the mantras are provided along with their meaning in English to help the Kids learn them easily. With simple rhyming words and amazing full page illustrations this book is must have for kids in the age group of 3-8 years. It also contains activity and coloring pages for the Kids making it an ideal birthday gift. All the profit from the sale of this book would be donated 100% to Sewa International for projects which would benefit the local community. More details about Sewa at http: //sewausa.org.

Hinduism in the Modern World presents a new and unprecedented attempt to survey the nature, range, and significance of modern and contemporary Hinduism in South Asia and the global diaspora. Organized to reflect the direction of recent scholarly research, this volume breaks with earlier texts on this subject by seeking to overcome a misleading dichotomy between an elite, intellectualist "modern" Hinduism and the rest of what has so often been misleadingly termed "traditional" or "popular" Hinduism. Without neglecting the significance of modern reformist visions of Hinduism, this book reconceptualizes the meaning of "modern Hinduism" both by expanding its content and by situating its expression within a larger framework of history, ethnography, and contemporary critical theory. This volume equips undergraduate readers with the tools necessary to appreciate the richness and diversity of Hinduism as it has developed during the past two centuries.

This is a book on Hinduism designed to explain many South Asian practices, some not confined to Hindus only, that have very often been misunderstood in North America. The book contains essential information on standard Hindu sacraments and rituals, on dress codes, customs and festivals, on worship practices and sacred images. It provides a sampler of prayers, points for reflection and liturgical formulae. It notes peculiarities of emigre Hindu experience in the United States and Canada and incorporates insights from the author`s experience as a Hindu chaplain. The book has been written in response to requests for information from hospitals, ethnic squads in police forces, schools and boards of education, chaplains, social workers, and Hindus themselves. It will be helpful to students as well.

The book is journey through 5000 years of evolution of Hinduism, and is outcome of seven years of study to understand the roots of Hinduism. Tracing the genesis of Hinduism to pre-Indus Valley period, the book explains Hindu, Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma, before it takes one through Hinduism’s oldest scriptures - the four Vedas, the four components of each Veda, and what they contain. How all original translations of Vedic texts were done by Western Sanskrit scholars, and why their works have left scope for doubt about the fidelity of translations. The yajnas (yagya) like Ashvamedha, Rajsooya, Vajpeya, etc., about which we only hear on TV serials and talk shows, have been demystified. The reader will be taken aback reading the sheer size and scale of Soma yajna, described step by step, in great detail. Hinduism’s journey to the Age of Reason, the Upanishads, its encounter with Buddhism, and its transformation into idol worshipping society with many gods and a multitude of stories about its millions of gods is lucidly explained. Puranas, what they contain and what was the reason they were created, has been described and explained next. Hinduism's journey to its modern form - idol worship, the modern puja, detailed description of puja and Sanskaras like Vivaha, their detailed description, the meaning of each action and how they are conducted, the gift to the priest, types of idols, their consecration, all are explained to help a reader understand the why and the how of what we do as a Hindu. The book concludes with a discussion of - Do mantras have power? & Do rituals have meaning?

The Emergence of Modern Hinduism argues for the importance of regional, vernacular innovation in processes of Hindu modernization. Scholars usually trace the emergence of modern Hinduism to cosmopolitan reform movements, producing accounts that overemphasize the centrality of elite religion and the influence of Western ideas and models. In this study, the author considers religious change on the margins of colonialism by looking at an important local figure, the Tamil Shaiva poet and mystic Ramalinga Swami (1823–1874). Weiss narrates a history of Hindu modernization that demonstrates the transformative role of Hindu ideas, models, and institutions, making this text essential for scholarly audiences of South Asian history, religious studies, Hindu studies, and South Asian studies. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.