This Work Analyses The Vaisnava Iconography Of Orissa. Vaisnava Iconography Proper Including Hari-Hara And Other Composite Images And Those Of Visnu S Female Consorts; Images Of Visnu In His Avataras; Depiction Of Balarama, Krsna And Jagannatha; And Iconography Of The Secondary Figures Like Garuda And Hanumana.

Explores the identity of the Hindu Great Goddess and how it relates to the many goddesses worshipped in India.

Here Prof. Donaldson Presents A Rich And Variegated Picture Of The Sakta/Tantra Art Of Orissa, Highlighting The Evolving Iconography Of Individual Images. He Focuses On Different Forms And Depictions Of The Goddess As Sakti, Painstakingly Analysing The Architecture Of A Number Of Temples And Their Images.

The present work is a defense of the Tantra, of which Sastra the author is an adherent and a polemic, undertaken in the interests of Hindu orthodoxy in its Sakta and Tantrika form against secularism on the one hand, and on the other the religious eclecticism and various reforming movements, of which, when the book was first written, the Brahmasamaj was a leading type. In fact, in parts the book reads like an orthodox Catholic protest against modernism and is thus interesting as showing how many fundamental principles are common to all orthdox forms of belief, whether of West or of East. The author of the Tantratattva (on which this translation is based)is a well-known Tantrik Pandit, preacher, and secretary of the Sarvamgalasabha of Benares, who knew no English. His work, which is written in Bengali, may therefore be taken to be an accurate popular statement of modern orthodox views on the subject treated by him. The word Tattva is a very comprehensive one, which is by no means always easy to translate. The author has rendered the title of the book as Principles of Tantra, though, may be, it should be Subjects of Tantra. The work deals with chosen topics of Tantra. This, however, also involves a statement of certain fundamental principles which govern Sastrik teaching on the subjects dealt with, and this as well as the contents of possible future volumes must be the justification for giving the book ambitious title.

Dancing and chanting with their shaven heads and saffron robes, Hare Krishnas presented the most visible face of any of the eastern religions transplanted to the West during the sixties and seventies. Yet few people know much about them. This comprehensive study includes more than twenty contributions from members, ex-members, and academics who have followed the Hare Krishna movement for years. Since the death of its founder, the movement, also known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), has experienced debates over the roles of authority, heresy, and dissent, which have led to the development of several splinter movements. There is a growing women's rights movement and a highly publicized child abuse scandal. Providing a privileged look at the people and issues shaping ISKCON, this volume also offers insight into the complex factors surrounding the emergence of religious traditions, including early Christianity, as well as a glimpse of the original seeds and the germinating stages of a religious tradition putting down roots in foreign soil.

Throughout India and Southeast Asia, ancient classical epics—the Mahabharata and the Ramayana—continue to exert considerable cultural influence. Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics offers an unprecedented exploration into South Asia's regional epic traditions. Using his own fieldwork as a starting point, Alf Hiltebeitel analyzes how the oral tradition of the south Indian cult of the goddess Draupadi and five regional martial oral epics compare with one another and tie in with the Sanskrit epics. Drawing on literary theory and cultural studies, he reveals the shared subtexts of the Draupadi cult Mahabharata and the five oral epics, and shows how the traditional plots are twisted and classical characters reshaped to reflect local history and religion. In doing so, Hiltebeitel sheds new light on the intertwining oral traditions of medieval Rajput military culture, Dalits ("former Untouchables"), and Muslims. Breathtaking in scope, this work is indispensable for those seeking a deeper understanding of South Asia's Hindu and Muslim traditions. This work is the third volume in Hiltebeitel's study of the Draupadi cult. Other volumes include Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Volume One), On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess (Volume Two), and Rethinking the Mahabharata (Volume Four).

About the Book The Goddess or Devī is God in Its Mother aspect. Devī, who is existence, consciousness and bliss, is thought of as a female, a male or pure Brahman. This volume Hymns to the Goddess is an endeavour of Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) to translate the Sanskrit hymns in praise of the Goddess or Devī, scattered in Tantra and Purāṇa texts, Mahābhārata, and in the hymns of Śaṅkarācārya, who was an incarnation of devotion and a great philosopher, Vālmīki and Indra. After a general introduction, the book starts with a hymn to Kālabhairava, the spouse of Devī, followed by Devī stotras. In these hymns, Devī is praised as Bhairavaī, Bhuvaneśvarī, Ādyakālī, Lakṣmī, Tārā, Mahiṣamardinī, Aṇṇapūrṇā, Sarasvatī, Durgā, Tripurā in Tantra texts; Sarvaviśvajananī, Ambikā, Caṇḍikā, Mahādevī and Jagadambikā in Purāṇas; Durgā, Āryā, Durgā in Mahābhārata; Tripurasundarī, Gaṅgā, Ānanadalaharī, Yamunā, Narmadā and Mahālakṣmī. Hymn to Kālī (Karpūrādi Stotra), another book within the book, is a celebrated Kaula stotra, having commentary on the hymns. It, in addition to mantroddhāradhārā, contains stotras of dhyāna, yantra, sādhanā, madya, māṁsa, maithuna and phala-śruti matters. About the Author Sir John George Woodroffe (1865–1936), also known by pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British Orientalist whose work helped to develop in the West a deep and wide interest in Hindu philosophy and yogic practices. A lawyer by profession, he developed parallel interest in Sanskrit, Indian philosophy and religion. Sir Woodroffe wrote or translated more than a dozen books: Introduction to the Tantra Sastra; Tantra of the Great Liberation (Mahanirvana Tantra); Hymns to the Goddess; The Serpent Power; Hymn to Kali: Karpuradi-Stotra; The World as Power; The Garland of Letters; Principles of Tantra (2 vols) and Is India Civilized? Essays on Indian Culture are some of them.