This book on urban water bodies, catchment areas and drainage pattern is set against the backdrop of the unprecedented heavy rainfall that severely deluged metropolitan cities and other parts of India in recent years. The recurring natural catastrophes in water-stressed cities of India and alarming rate of diminishing water bodies, wetlads and catchment areas needs a re-visit to an entire urban water-cycle. This book, thus, discusses how the processes and implementation of colonial urban development policies and projects have radically transformed the water bodies and their catchment areas – traditional water holding systems of Varanasi city. In this imperative colonial process, through the case study of Varanasi, the book mainly engages with the reasons behind the elimination of the temple tanks and ponds after the annexation of Varanasi by the British from 1775 till 1947. The book investigates the colonial notion of ‘dry city’, and how this notion crafted the process of separating land and water bodies, which arguably resulted in the reclamation and draining of water bodies, and also gave rise to water pollution. Additionally, the book analyzes the elimination of water bodies and loss of catchment areas through the ongoing processes of restoring the ancient city’s natural and cultural heritage. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

Describing sacred waters and their associated traditions in over thirty countries and across multiple time periods, this book identifies patterns in panhuman hydrolatry. Supplying life’s most basic daily need, freshwater sources were likely the earliest sacred sites, and the first protected and contested resource. Guarded by taboos, rites and supermundane forces, freshwater sources have also been considered thresholds to otherworlds. Often associated also with venerated stones, trees and healing flora, sacred water sources are sites of biocultural diversity. Addressing themes that will shape future water research, this volume examines cultural perceptions of water’s sacrality that can be employed to foster resilient human–environmental relationships in the growing water crises of the twenty-first century. The work combines perspectives from anthropology, archaeology, classics, folklore, geography, geology, history, literature and religious studies.

"The 3rd edition of National Geographic Traveler: India brings the ""land of princes"" to every traveler in gorgeous images, accessible map tours, enticing sidebars, and valuable insider tips. Experience daily life up-close on a rickshaw ride through Old Delhi or take a drive through colonial Mumbai for local flavor. Readers discover a fascinating history and culture from the life of Mahatma Gandhi to Indian spices and palace hotels as well as popular attractions such as the pink sandstone city of Jaipur, the water palaces of Udaipur, and, of course, the Taj Mahal. Lesser-known treasures in the country are also revealed, along with such practical information as getting around there and getting around, where to stay, and cultural and recreational musts to make the most of your visit."

Drawing from a variety of religious teachings, anthropological evidence and myths and legends from around the world, this book examines how the essential element water plays a vital role in all aspects of our spiritual lives.

In the same format as his best-selling books A History of the World in 100 Objects and Germany: Memories of a Nation—the acclaimed art historian now gives us a magnificent new book that explores the relationship between faith and society. Until fairly recently, religion as a major influence on the nature of individual societies around the world seemed to be on the wane. Now, far from being marginalized, the relationship between faith and society has moved to the center of politics and global conversation. Neil MacGregor's new book traces the ways in which different societies have understood and articulated their places in the cosmic scheme. It examines mankind's beliefs not from the perspective of institutional religions but according to how shared narratives have shaped societies—and what happens when different narratives run up against each other. As he did in A History of the World in 100 Objects and Germany: Memories of a Nation, MacGregor brilliantly combines objects, places, and ideas to examine and, ultimately, illuminate these pressing contemporary concerns.

“[A] concisely yet informatively narrated and gorgeously colorful pictorial survey...” --Booklist Just 60 years after winning independence from British rule, India’s economy is booming and the nation is fast becoming a leading global power. With a population of a billion people, India’s society is as varied as its awe-inspiring landscape. Home to a dizzying array of languages, ethnic groups, beliefs, and lifestyles, India can seem overwhelming in its complexity. India takesthe lid off this cultural melting pot, showing how past events have shaped thisdiverse but unified nation, where tradition and modernity successfully coexist.Through stunning photography and insightful text, India offers an eye-opening, thought-provoking, and authoritative visual guide to one of the world’s most exciting and vibrant nations.

Indigenous People and the Christian Faith: A New Way Forward provides detailed historical, cultural and theological background and analysis to a very delicate and pressing subject facing many people around the world. The book is “glocal”: both local and global, as represented by international scholars. Every continent is represented by both Indigenous and non-indigenous people who desire to make a difference with the delicate problematics and relationships. The history of Indigenous people around the world is inextricably linked with Christianity and Colonialism. The book is completely interdisciplinary by employing historians, literary critics, biblical scholars and theologians, sociologists, philosophers and ordained engineers. The Literary Intent of the book, without presuming nor claiming too much for itself, is to provide practical thinking that will help all people move past the pain and dysfunction of the past, toward mutual understanding, communication, and practical actions in the present and future.

This study examines an indigenous phenomenon of the Hindu devotees of Jesus Christ and their response to the gospel through an empirical case study conducted in Varanasi, India. It analyzes their religious beliefs and social belonging and addresses the ensuing questions from a historical, theological, and missiological perspective. The data reveals that the respondents profess faith in Jesus Christ; however, most remain unbaptized and insist on their Hindu identity. Hence, a heuristic model for a contextualized baptism as Guru-diksha is proposed. The emergent church among Hindu devotees should be considered, from the perspective of world Christianity, as a disparate form of belonging while remaining within one's community of birth. The insistence on a visible church and a distinct community of Christ's followers is contested because the devotees should construct their contextual ecclesiology, since it is an indigenous discovery of the Christian faith. Thus, the "Christian" label for the adherents is dispensable while retaining their socio-ethnic Hindu identity. Christian mission should discontinue extraction and assimilation; instead, missional praxis should be within the given sociocultural structures, recognizing their idiosyncrasies as legitimate in God's eyes and in need of transformation, like any human culture.

From the Sudan to Northern New South Wales, Tarab is an epic, mesmerising tale of high adventure and the search for meaning. Carl Cleves escapes national service in Belgium to live in South Africa at the height of the apartheid era. So begin the adventures and quests, wanderings and narrow escapes, mishaps and illuminations of a guitar-toting troubadour in his roles as young beat poet, law student, single father, relief worker in India and recording star in Brazil. Cleves’s page turning memoir is no simple music biography, but rather the travel story of an artist’s quest for tarab: a place where music and poetry bestow true bliss upon the lucky one. It’s by turns philosophical, funny, adventurous and insightful. Fully revised and expanded, this new edition of Tarab is a must read for all lovers of travel literature.