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This book critically assesses recent debates about the colonial construction of Hinduism. Increasingly scholars have come to realise that the dominant understanding of Indian culture and its traditions is unsatisfactory. According to the classical paradigm, Hindu traditions are conceptualized as features of a religion with distinct beliefs, doctrines, sacred laws and holy texts. Today, however, many academics consider this conception to be a colonial ‘construction’. This book focuses on the different versions, arguments and counter-arguments of the thesis that the Hindu religion is a construct of colonialism. Bringing together the different positions in the debate, it provides necessary historical data, arguments and conceptual tools to examine the argument. Organized in two parts, the first half of the book provides new analyses of historical and empirical data; the second presents some of the theoretical questions that have emerged from the debate on the construction of Hinduism. Where some of the contributors argue that Hinduism was created as a result of a western Christian notion of religion and the imperatives of British colonialism, others show that this religion already existed in pre-colonial India; and as an alternative to these standpoints, other writers argue that Hinduism only exists in the European experience and does not correspond to any empirical reality in India. This volume offers new insights into the nature of the construction of religion in India and will be of interest to scholars of the History of Religion, Asian Religion, Postcolonial and South Asian Studies.

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This book is a comprehensive study of a modern form of Hinduism that is growing in the place of its birth in the Indian state of Gujarat and among Indian immigrants in East Africa, Great Britain, and the United States. It is the most prominent form of transnational Hinduism because it creates networks that define and preserve ethnic and religious identity in the modern context of rapid mobility and communication. Founded by Swaminarayan (1781-1830), a religious reformer in a time of great social and political change in Gujarat, Swaminarayan Hinduism expounds a path of devotion to Swaminarayan as the final, perfect manifestation of God. Professor Williams provides a detailed introduction to the history, theology, discipline, and ritual of this important form of Hinduism. ... Read more

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You know a Swaminarayan
If you'd like to read a scholarly history of this increasingly important and powerful Hindu revivalist organization, this is your book.What the Mormons are to the United States, the Swaminarayans are to India (and Gujaratis in particular).Keep in mind that this book is not exclusively a history of BAPS, the largest and most prominent of Swaminarayan denominations.

Readers should also know that the book is generally sympathetic rather than critical in tone, which is entirely appropriate.

Swaminarayan Hinduism - the art of living.
An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism (Introduction to Religion)

Know the "Swaminarayan Hinduism" through Raymond Brady Williams's words. Very good research on world's fastest growing sect. He has covered all about "who is Swaminarayan? " and "why is Swaminarayan?". Very good book for all who have some curiosity to know about "Art of Living". ... Read more

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This book provides new data and perspectives on the development of 'world religion' in post-colonial societies through an analysis of the development of 'Hinduism' in various parts of Indonesia from the early twentieth century to the present.This development has been largely driven by the religious and cultural policy of the Indonesian central government, although the process began during the colonial period as an indigenous response to the introduction of modernity. ... Read more

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Explaining the fundamental differences, practices and believes of the main religions of the world, this illustrated book includes quotations, religious text, maps and key dates. ... Read more

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Visitors to the world of Hinduism seldom probe its complex system of diverse beliefs and practices. If you want to better understand the 900 million Hindus of the world, you must read H. L. Richard's brief but insightful booklet. In Hinduism, he addresses both esoteric and practical issues through numerous selections from the Hindu scriptures, an overview of basic Hindu philosophies, and a glossary of Hindu terminology. ... Read more

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Gems of Hindu thought for children ... Read more

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This book touches the core of Hindu spirituality by presenting its devotional feel, which involves directly connecting to God through the surrender of everyday actions or a love affair with the Divine. It explores the spiritual choices that are available to practicing Hindus, how their beliefs affect their behavior, what they strive for in life, how they plan their evolution, how they progress, and who their role models are.

Learn why saints keep requesting for more and more bhakti, why a single chant of the Lord's name is considered sufficient for liberation, how people adore Vishnu and his incarnations, Shiva and Durga, how our style of interaction with society can help us transcend nature, why our approach of selecting a major in college correlates with our spiritual realization, what happens when love becomes complete surrender, and lots more. ... Read more

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Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Conventional approaches to Hinduism typically stress its classical religious tradition with an emphasis on the Brahmin texts and practices. Frequently neglected are the practices of lower caste Indians, the role of women in the culture, the religious life of village folk, devotion to the deity Rama, and the Sant tradition of North India.

The Many Colors of Hinduism is the first introductory text to provide a balanced view of this rich religious tradition, acknowledging the full range of its many competing and even contradictory aspects. Utilizing a thematic-historical approach, Carl Olson draws on a wide array of textual evidence, the fieldwork of anthropologists in close contact with insiders, and voices of thinkers ranging from Indologist Alf Hiltebeitel to Cambridge scholar Julius Lipner. The result is a narrative approach that offers a view of Hinduism that emulates the storytelling nature of the religion itself.

Covering ancient times to the present and explaining important cultural metaphors, symbols, and narratives not generally found in other introductory textbooks, Olson offers students a new perspective of a religion that is more varied than most Westerners realize. The Many Colors of Hinduism will be essential reading for undergraduate courses in world or Asian religions. ... Read more

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This is an exploration of contemporary Hinduism, illustrated by case studies from the lived religion. Understanding Hinduism today requires an understanding of how it is practised in the contemporary world. Stephen Jacob's new introduction tackles these central issues, beginning with case studies of the grassroots practice of Hinduism in India and in diaspora communities. He covers issues of singular importance in the modern study of Hinduism, including the importance and role of mass media to this essentially orally transmitted religion. Other major areas covered include the concept of Hindu dharma, particularly in relation to caste, gender and Hindu nationalism, key and often controversial concepts in Hinduism. These useful guides aim to introduce religions through the lens of contemporary issues, illustrated throughout with examples and case studies taken from lived religion. The perfect companion for the student of religion, each guide interprets the teachings of the religion in question in a modern context and applies them to modern day scenarios. ... Read more

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This book is concerned with the study of the relations between drama and ritual in early Hindu culture. These relations are analysed in the context of Yajna dominated Vedism and Puja dominated Hinduism. The book describes the semantics and structure of the Natyasastra's rites, reconstructs the logic and symbolic meaning of the ritual events. It also gives a review of the ancient dramatic forms described in the Natyasastra and narrates the appearance of non-Vedic Puja. ... Read more

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Since times immemorial, India has been synonymous with spiritual knowledge and people have been drawn to her sacred land. Some were philosophers, poets, writers, historians, scientists, and travelers. Some came to India; others read translations about her rich and imaginative literature and felt genuine enthusiasm for her. The fourth Caliph in the 7th century is reported to have said - The land where books were first written and from where wisdom and knowledge sprang is India.Despite the wars and imperialism, ancient India's spiritual influence and wisdom has had considerable impact on the West, especially on its imagination, science, and literature: English Romantic poetry in particular. ... Read more

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Bravo! Excellent compilation from the website by the same name!
Thank you for this incredibly valuable book for our times -
on what great minds of all time and all civilizations have had to say about India and Hinduism. I was so looking forward to this book, since your inspirational portal about History of India - of [...] has become an immense source of my pride and reference.

Does the Hindu India have a message or relevance for today's world?
Can it teach us to look at our modern day problems differently and help us to solve them?Reading HOW India inspired the greatest of philosophers, scientists, thinkers, travellers, imiginative and creative minds of OUR TIMES and beyond is a thrilling ride with a message of hope for the rest of the world -
Yes and yes!

Although the book is close to my heart,
I will be lending it as a starting point for my American friends who say they know nothing about India.

If only 'A Tribute To India' was less expensive and more readily available,
I could buy more copies to present it as well. ... Read more

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The third edition of this well-regarded introduction to Hinduism adds new material on the religion's origins, on its relations with rival traditions, and on Hindu science. ... Read more

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not actually very introductory
If you are looking for a gentle introduction to Hinduism, I cannot stress enough that you should look at Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion before you read this. This is a fine book, but I just can't say it's a good introduction.

I disagree with the reviewers who say that Klostermeier assumes no prior familiarity with Hinduism. He assumes no prior significant study, but he just doesn't explain things at an introductory level. The general problem is that the information is not organized the way it ought to be in an introductory book. To be frank, it's almost as though the author assumes you already know pretty much what he's saying. In fact, it's not too hard to deal with if you already know, but if you don't, a lot of the text will be opaque.

For instance, you'd better realize that Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta are schools of philosophy, and that advaita, visistadvaita, and dvaita are schools of Vedanta before you pick up the book. Now to be fair, you can figure this out if you read the book very closely, as though it were a puzzle to be decoded. For instance, we are told that Sankara is the great advaita theologian on page 413; that's the 16th mention of Sankara, and the 6th of advaita. It's certainly basic information, but it would be pretty confusing to read all those references to Sankara and advaita if you didn't know what they are.

That's an example; just about every topic in the book suffers from the same problem.

However, if you've read two or three books on Hinduism before, this is not a bad book at all. It actually has a lot of detail. The most interesting aspect, perhaps the main reason it's famous, is that most people believe the author succeeds in presenting Hinduism on its own terms, not in terms of Western religion or "orientalist" scholarship.

Let me describe the contents.

It starts with a nice but very brief introduction to Western perspectives on Hinduism. Next, an extremely brief introduction to the history of Hinduism, though you'd better know already about the Aryan invasion theory and the fact that it's become quite controversial. If you do, then Klostermeier's information is very interesting. Then he considers the issues of "orthodoxy" and "heresy" within Hinduism, essentially a consideration of the boundaries of Hinduism, and disagreements about them. Next he covers the scriptures, a very complex topic and this is one of the better explanations of it that I've read. He also looks at the idea of "revelation" and "sacred word," though I'd say too briefly. The next chapter, on the two great epics and the Puranas is excellent; the chapter on the Bhagavad-Gita (read it!) is ok. The cosmology chapter is ok. The next chapter introduces the Hindu deities from the Vedas to the present time. In some aspects, this is a very good chapter; but if you want to know how the deities are/were worshiped, there is nothing here. It is all mythology and theology.

Next, a couple chapters on "karmamurga" (the path of works) and ethics. Then a very brief introduction to the samskaras (initiation, marriage, cremation). Next, several chapters give a pretty good historical introduction to Jnanamarga (the path of knowledge) and the Upanishads: atman, Brahman, karma, moksa (liberation). Then, an introduction to bhaktimarga (the path of devotion), far too brief and colorless, but its history is well told. That leads to pretty good chapters on Visnu, Shiva, and Devi, followed by an interesting chapter on the great gods of the Tamil Nadu region.

Then he turns even more toward theology, looking at Hindu constructions of sacred time and space. This chapter is both interesting and introductory, though the subject deserves better coverage. Next is the caste system, which he describes without indignation. Next, he looks at the varieties of holy men and women, briefly but informatively outlining the major modern groups. He has a fine introduction to the situations of women in Hinduism, which is the first time he really shows any criticism in the book. Now there's several chapters on the schools of philosophy, which, if read closely, are very good.

Next, a fine chapter on modern Hindu reforms and reformers, with emphasis on figures that have impacted India rather than ones that have impressed the West, including an interesting but very brief section on Indian secularism; and another fine historical chapter on Gandhi (that could in many people's opinion be more critical). The last chapter, which is on Hindu nationalism, is one of the best in the book.

In short, this book is full of good, basic information and plenty of interesting details, examined in pretty good depth for an introductory book. However, it is so poorly explained and organized, that I recommend reading at least one more introductory book, maybe a few, on Hinduism before coming to this one.

Further, you will get no sense of the power, wisdom or beauty of Hinduism from this book: it will overwhelm you with the all the varieties of everything first. If you don't love or admire Hinduism when you start this book, you'll feel no more warmly when you finish. I can't think of anything in the book that really impressed me as interesting, beautiful or wise, which is a big failure for a supposedly introductory book.

A minor criticism is that the 22 B&W photographs are not particularly revealing, but fortunately we live in the age of the google image search, so you can overcome that easily if you care to. Also, there are so many typos that the editor, if there was one, has to be criticized.

A minor point in the book's favor, although this is important to me, is that it is well made. The binding is excellent, the paper is good, the margins are large enough for making simple notes but not too wide. The bibliography is excellent, particularly for Indian scholarship. There's a very thorough glossary, practically a mini-dictionary, and the text consistently gives both Sanskrit words and their English translations.

Let me alert you to some other excellent introductions. After Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion, which I mentioned above, I would strongly recommend The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India, which is the best book on Hinduism that I've ever read, although Huyler does a better job of presenting Hinduism at a basic level. It really is the best "2nd book" on Hinduism, IMO. After that you have options, with this being among the pretty good ones. Of course, there are a lot of introductions out there, and some of them are surely as good as these, but these are the ones that I've read and can happily recommend.

Great for insomniacs
This book is a very thorough description of many aspects of Hinduism.The book is written for a Western audience, so the author assumes no prior familiarity with Hinduism on the part of the reader.The book is organized into four sections: development and essence of Hinduism, the three Hindu paths to liberation, the structural supports of Hinduism, and the meeting of East and West in modern India.Each section contains a number of chapters addressing specific topics that fall within the general topic of the section.The end material, which comprises over 200 pages, contains a chronology, endnotes, a glossary, a bibliography, and the index.

The style of writing is extremely dense and detailed, yet the vocabulary and presentation are still quite accessible to non-Indian audiences.The extensive footnoting, use of primary and secondary source material, and lengthy quotations make this a remarkable work of scholarship.The text itself is more like an encyclopedia in nature; the chapters are independent articles in themselves, so there is little cohesion from one chapter to the next.Some of the chapters are quite interesting and illuminating- -others cover material that is of more marginal interest.I almost put the book down after struggling through chapter 1, which provides a rather detailed history of Western scholarship on Hinduism, and might have made a better appendix than an introduction.But fortunately, I kept slogging through the material, and learned quite a bit about the core Hindu beliefs from subsequent chapters.The book would make a good textbook for classes on comparative religion or South Asian cultures.It may also provide some answers for independent readers with a burning curiosity about Hinduism.

A great reference book/ textbook on Hinduism
The second edition of the book is a much more substantial edition and it has corrected the errors of the first. The book is definitely the best general resource the reader will find on Hinduism. Unlike other texts that present an Orientalist view of Hinduism, Klostermaier lets the tradition speaks for itself. For a book of this size, dealing with a tradition as rich and complex as Hinduism, it is natural that the reader will not always agree with the author. But Professor Klostermaier tries to be as fair in his presentation as is possible.

The book should be a successful textbook to teach Hinduism at the college level.

Excellent
Still the best introduction to Hinduism on the market. Klostermaier hasconsciously tried to move away from the straitjacket of Orientalist writingthat has marred academic books on Hinduism.

Hindu traditions
The book traces philosophical background of Hinduism with references toancient literature- Bhagvat Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads asbasis for research.

An analysis of religious life of the Hindus, itssocial impact is given too. ... Read more

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Hinduism is often difficult to comprehend due to its ancient origin, multifariousness, vastness and absence of one authority. No book on Hinduism, therefore, can be complete. This book, however, tries to attempt a well-documented and holistic view of Hinduism from historical and sociological perspectives. It intends to serve as a basic introductory text. The presentation is based on a first-hand reading of Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit combined with knowledge of social sciences. The emphasis is on three major Hindu scriptures: the `Bhagavad Gita', the `Manusmriti' and the `Vedas', particularly the Rigveda. These three texts constitute the basic framework of Hinduism. This book provides adequate information about the three scriptures and discusses in detail terms such as gotra, jati, varna and dharma. It also discusses the issue of divine punishment for violating the dharma. The book provides a detailed history of the origin of the culture and religion that flourished along the Indo-Gangetic Plains. It discusses migrations, their impact and the emergent civilizations. The objective is to understand how the religion evolved with people. It also studies the recent developments, particularly the impact of science and technology with regards to the Hindu society. Whether the Rigvedic values are relevant today have also been explored ... Read more