Reproduction of the original: The Gates of India by Thomas Holdich

For many centuries, Hindus have taken it for granted that the religious images they place in temples and home shrines for purposes of worship are alive. Hindu priests bring them to life through a complex ritual ”establishment” that invokes the god or goddess into material support. Priests and devotees then maintain the enlivened image as a divine person through ongoing liturgical activity: they must awaken it in the morning , bathe it, dress it, feed it, entertain it, praise it, and eventually put it to bed at night. In this linked series of case studies of Hindu religious objects, Richard Davis argues that in some sense these believers are correct: through ongoing interactions with humans, religious objects are brought to life. Davis draws largely on reader response literary theory and anthropological approaches to the study of objects in society in order to trace the biographies of Indian religious images over many centuries. He shows that Hindu priests and worshipers are not the only ones to enliven images. Bringing with them differing religious assumptions, political agendas, and economic motivations, others may animate the very same objects as icons of sovereignty, as polytheistic ”idols,” as ”devils,” as potentially lucrative commodities, as objects of sculptural art, or as symbols for a whole range of new meanings never foreseen by the imagesê makers of original worshipers.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata Was Born In 1839, And In His Lifetime India Remained Firmly Under British Rule. Yet The Projects He Envisioned Laid The Foundation For The Nation S Development Once It Became Independent. More Extraordinary Still, These Institutions Continue To Set The Pace For Others In Their Respective Areas. For, Among His Many Achievements Are The Indian Institute Of Science In Bangalore, Which Has Groomed Some Of The Country S Best Scientists, The Tata Steel Plant In Jamshedpur, Which Marked The Country S Transition From Trading To Manufacturing, His Pioneering Hydro-Electric Project, And The Taj Mahal Hotel In Mumbai, One Of The Finest In The World. In These As In Other Projects He Undertook, Jamsetji Revealed The Unerring Instinct Of A Man Who Knew What It Would Take To Restore The Pride Of A Subjugated Nation And Help It Prepare For A Place Among The Leading Nations Of The World Once It Came Into Its Own. The Scale Of The Projects Required Abilities Of A High Order. In Some Cases It Was Sheer Perseverance That Paid Off As With Finding A Suitable Site For The Steel Project. In Others, Such As The Indian Institute Of Science, It Was His Exceptional Persuasive Skills And Patience That Finally Got Him The Approval Of A Reluctant Viceroy, Lord Curzon. In For The Love Of India, R.M. Lala Has Drawn Upon Fresh Material From The India Office Library In London And Other Archives, As Also Jamsetji S Letters, To Portray The Man And His Age. It Is An Absorbing Account That Makes Clear How Remarkable Jamsetji S Achievement Truly Was, And Why, Even Now, One Hundred Years After His Death, He Seems Like A Man Well Ahead Of The Times.