Art & Architecture (136)

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    The book studies the outstanding features of 31 famous palaces, pavilions and residences of the ruling class in different parts of Medieval India, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. It illustrates and discusses the layout plan of each building in detail.

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    Royal Palaces Residences and Pavilions of India by: Fredrick W. Bunce 1,170.00

    The book brings out the outstanding features of the palaces, pavilions and residences of the ruling class in medieval India — from the 13th to the 18th century. The focus is on structures that represent a group on religious and ethnic lines, i.e. Hindu/Islamic rulers, Indo-European Hindu or Dravidian Hindu or Afghani or Turk or Iranian rulers, and structures characteristic of particular periods and locales. Presenting some 31 famous buildings including the City Palace of Udaipur and Jaipur and the Lal Qila, Delhi and pleasure pavilions like the Hauz Khas, Delhi and Farah Bagh, Ahmadnagar, the work studies palaces and pavilions from the different regions of India. It illustrates the layout plan of each building in detail. Dr. Fredrick W. Bunce discusses the size, elaborateness or luxury of the royal structures which underlined the kings’ right to rule. With elaborate notes, he showcases their characteristics such as their tendency towards axiality and their symmetrical aspect, the Hindu rulers’ choice of the immutable square for the plan and their reliance on the shilpa-shastras, the east-west alignment of the structures, the labyrinthine character of residences/palaces, and their iconography that is unique to the Indian subcontinent. The volume has appendices that give the plans of other great structures of India and the world, list the major rulers of kingdoms in India’s different regions and provide a chronological list of major Indian monuments. The book will be extremely useful to students and scholars of Indian cultural history, particularly relating to architecture and iconography.

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    Sacred Thread by: Christopher Key Chapple 1,795.00

    “Sacred Thread offers a visual and three-language presentation of Pataðjali’s YogasÂtra. These 196 short sentences form the foundation for the philosophy and practice of Yoga. One of six ways of viewing the world, this Darœana emphasizes human potential. Acknowledging the troubles caused by ignorance, egotism, addiction, and negativity, Yoga urges the cultivation of opposites: gentle behavior (ahiÚsÀ), truth-telling (satya), honesty (asteya), sexual restraint (brahmacarya) and avoidance of consumerism (aparigraha). Combined with practices of body, breath, and meditation, Yoga brings understanding and freedom. Working with the original Sanskrit text, the book renders photographic images to understand Yoga philosophy along with translation and explanation in English as well as Hindi. Without a syllable to spare, the Sanskrit text encapsulates the meaning of life and the possibility of freedom in four chapters: SamÀdhi, SÀdhana, Powers, and Freedom. The daily street life of India places the entire spectrum of Pataðjali’s wisdom on display. The authors have chosen from thousands of images to match Pataðjali’s glimpses of reality with what can readily be seen in Pune or Varanasi or Delhi. The English translation seeks to convey Pataðjali’s concision without adding too much explanation. The process of Yoga requires the quieting of thoughts. By letting the words stand on their own, a sense of connection emerges, conveying the thread of Yoga wisdom. Yoga is now studied and practiced in more than four dozen universities throughout India. The Hindi translation provides yet another bridge for comprehending the wisdom of Yoga. This book will be useful for the many people training to be experts in Yoga.”

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    This study, in an ethono-historical perspective, explores the multi linear evolution of Sakti worship in Orissa: from the pre-/protohistorical times to the late medieval epoch, and its continuity into the modern period — with contextual focus on its probable genesis, historical development, festivals, ritualistic patterns, and cultural sources including myths, legends and folklore.

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    Sakti Cult in Orissa by: Francesco Brighenti 3,600.00

    In the Hindu world-view, Shakti is the Mother of the Universe: the highest primal power. She is, accordingly, the all-pervading, intagible energy principle that propels the cosmos and its endless human dimensions with the life-throbs of activity and culture. Many are her songs, countless her stories, numerous her names. Worship of Shakti, as a pan-Indian phenomenon, predates Sanskritic influences of every kind. Combining his extensive fieldwork with diverse published and unpublished sources: archaeological, historical and religious, Francesco Brighenti’s study traces its presence in Orissa. Which, perhaps, provides the best paradigm of an age-old Goddess cult, deeply rooted in the autochthonous religious traditions of Eastern India. It is the first, all-encompassing study, in an ethono-historical perspective, exploring the multilinear evolution of Shakti worship in Orissa: from the pre-/proto- historical times to the late medieval epoch, and even its continuity into the modern period — with contextual focus on its probable genesis, historical development, festivals, ritualistic patterns, and cultural sources including myths, legends and folklore. The book also incorporates, besides a description of important Shakta centres in Orissa, a study of the Divine Mother’s iconographic features in Her multifarious manifestations. Together with around hundred illustrations highlighting the varied representations of Shakti in sculpture, this study will interest not only the scholars of archaeology, history and religion, but historians of art as well.

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    This inspirational guide to an open, critical exchange between India and the West is framed as a tribute to Dr. Bettina Baumer, an eminent scholar of Indology. Comprising 32 essays, segregated into three sections — Indian philosophy and spirituality, Indian Arts and Aesthetics, and Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue.

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    Samarasya by: Sadananda Das, Ernst Fürlinger, 2,700.00

    The present volume is a tribute to Dr. Bettina Baumer, an eminent scholar of Indology and Religious Studies in general and of Kashmir Shaivism in particular, and one of the important exponents of interreligious dialogue. It contains 32 essays which are divided into three sections, representing the main fields of study of Bettina Baumer. Section I – “Indian Philosophy and Spirituality” — is focussed on the non-dualistic Tantric Shaivism of Kashmir. The range of topics reach from an analysis of the term “Vishranti”/ “repose” (A. Chakrabarti, Hawai’i), the first English translation of the Tantric hymn “Bahurupa-garbhastotra” (H.N. Chakravarty, Varanasi) to the Parvan rites described in Chapter 28 of Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka (A. Padoux, Paris) and a commentary on the opening verses of Abhinavagupta’s Tantrasara (A. Sanderson, Oxford). This focus is complemented by other important contributions, for example on Gandhi’s Ethical Thought (J. Prabhu, Los Angeles) and an analysis of the interactions between Vedanta and Tantra, as shown in the Lalitatrishatibhashya (A. Wilke, Munster). Section II – “Indian Arts and Aesthetics” — contains nine significant articles from outstanding scholars: Kapila Vatsyayan (on the representation of Mount Kailasa in myth, temple architecture and classical literature), Devangana Desai (on the relevance of textual sources in the study of temple art), R.N. Misra (the history of Shaiva-Siddhanta in Central India), R. Nagaswamy (Guhavasi and Devaraja in Cambodia) and others, along with illustrations. The last section on “Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue” wants to stimulate the dialogue between the Indian and Western history of thought — especially with two articles: an examination of the concept of the “Self” and its knowledge in the Western mystical tradition, compared with the concept of “self-knowledge” in the Upanishads (A.M. Haas, Zurich); and a study of “Nothingness” as a key term in Johannes Tauler. This part also contains reflections on an overcoming of the social, economic and political crisis of our contemporary world: e.g. on the cross-cultural dimension of an “ethics of justice” (M. von Bruck, Munich) and on the “interculturation” of religious life (F. X. D’Sa, Pune/Wurzburg). This section ends with the key article by R. Panikkar on essential questions in the dialogue between Hinduism and Christianity, presented through the metaphor of “The Drop of Water.” The volume will be useful not only to scholars of Indology, Indian Philosophy, Indian Arts, and Religion, but also to anybody interested in an open, critical exchange between India and the West — or in search of ways out of the fundamental crisis of our time.

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    This book presents the key concepts from the Indian Grammatical Tradition (IGT) that are necessary for understanding the information flow in a language string and its dynamics. This is followed by a concrete application of building a parser for Sanskrit using the framework of Indian Grammatical Tradition.

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    Sanskrit Parsing by: Amba Kulkarni 810.00

    India has a rich grammatical tradition, still extant in the form of Panini’s grammar as well as the theories of verbal cognition. These two together provide a formal theory of language communication. The formal nature of the theory makes it directly relevant to the new technology called Natural Language Processing.
    This book, first presents the key concepts from the Indian Grammatical Tradition (IGT) that are necessary for understanding the information flow in a language string and its dynamics. A fresh look at these concepts from the perspective of Natural Language Processing is provided. This is then followed by a concrete application of building a parser for Sanskrit using the framework of Indian Grammatical Tradition.
    This book not only documents the salient pieces of work carried out over the last quarter century under Computational Paninian Grammar, but provides the first comprehensive exposition of the ideas involved. It fills a gap for students of Computational Linguistics/Natural Language Processing who are working on Indian languages using Paninian Grammatical Framework for developing their computational models and do not have direct access to the texts in Sanskrit.
    Similarly for the Sanskrit scholars and the students it provides an example of concrete application of the Indian theories to solve a contemporary problem.

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    The book employs the multi-disciplinary methodologies of art historical interpretation to contextualise nearly the whole range of Saptamatrka icons within the larger historical evolution of accultured Brahmanical religion, mythology, theology and cultic developments.

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    Saptamatrka Worship and Sculptures by: Shivaji K Panikkar 2,070.00

    The worship of Saptamatrika; the seven Mother Goddesses (or the seven Saktis, the divine feminine powers), is over a millennia and half old, pan-Indian phenomenon. And, over the centuries, the Matrika concept has come to have varied ideational, literary, visual and ritualistic manifestations — which not just interconnect the totality of Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical religious traditions, but are integral components of the diverse historical processes of Indian society. A reputed scholar of art history here offers an insightful iconological study of Saptamatrika divinities: the Brahmanical goddesses found invariably as a single collective whole, consisting literally of seven (though sometimes eight or more) female deities, variably accompanied by different forms of Shiva, and Ganesha or Skanda. Employing the multidisciplinary methodo-logies of art historical interpretation, including the recent feminist interventions, Dr. Panikkar’s inquiry contextualises nearly the whole range of Saptamatrika icons within the larger historical evolution of accultured Brahmanical religion, mythology, theology and concomitant multifarious cultic developments. Also clarifying some of the basic principles of Brahmanical iconic tradition, his study has, for the first time, exceeded the accepted Art Historical procedures by incorporating the questions of class conflict, gender ‘representations’ and ideology within the iconological discourse — and has, thus, advanced the frontiers of Art Historical practice. It is a compelling, painstakingly researched work growing from the author’s indepth survey of diverse Saptamatrika sculptures and an astonishing mass of both primary textual sources and research publications of more recent years. And, yet more significantly, it is enlivened with exquisite visual material: comprising nearly 200 photographic reproductions.

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    Satyavratashetram Devadhamam Mokshapuri Kanchipuram by: S. Rama Krishna Pisipaty 1,260.00
    Satyavratashetram, one of the ancient holy cities of South India is well known as the ‘mokshapuri’ and temple town. It is a holy Dhamam, abode of the God and Godess. A place is made holy by the presence of Lord and his devotees. Holy place is a platform to express the divine where performance of spiritual activities gets more benefit and made easy to bestow liberation to anyone even celestial abodes. Such places whatever spiritual activities are performed get thousand fold result. One very prominent story that runs practically across this holy city and also the reason of the existence of many temples is that the Lord Brahma performed yajna. It is said that Brahma (Ka) worshipped (anchi) Lord Vishnu and performed yajna at this place, which is why the city was given the name Kanchipuram (puram meaning ‘city ). Since then, Kanchipuram is one of the seven most significant pilgrim centres of Hinduism.
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    The book throws light on the structural, philosophical and scientific perspectives of mandala designs of temples, and explores the relationship between spiritual ideas and the ideas of scientific advancement as exhibited in the mandalas of ancient temples.

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    Science and Golden Ratios in Mandala Architecture by: Rekha Rao 810.00

    Indian temples are a rich repository of the religious, cultural, and artistic life of the society. Of special importance here are the circular, intricate, and artistic patterns called the mandalas, which are placed in the bhuvaneshvari of the temple that is conceived as the microcosmic representation of the cosmos in a temple.
    The study of the significance of the mandalas are based on the aspects like symbolism, fractals, numerology, and sacred geometry that are used as codes to reveal the mystery of the universe and the eternal laws that govern the order of the universe. The diagrams of mandalas, concealing vast and grandest knowledge of science and spirituality in an amalgamation, are condensed to simplest graphic designs so that the knowledge of science was accessible to the commoners. The study presents the structural, philosophical and scientific perspectives of some mandalas belonging to the early Calukya, late Calukya and the Hoysala temples of south India. The research work also explores the study of the Golden ratios on which the mandalas and the divine images of the temples are designed.
    The book will prove extremely absorbing to scholars concerned with the study of the art and architecture of the ancient divine sculptures.

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    The world famous Amaravati sculptures and art pieces take the pride of place in India’s best museums today. This volume lists and analyses with photo illustrations the large museum antiquities typologically and chronologically. The book will interest historians, archaeologists and general readers.

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    Sculptures and Antiquities in the Archaeological Museum, Amravati by: S.S. Gupta 1,440.00

    The Amaravati sculptures are famous throughout the world for their special features and they form a distinct school of art called Amaravati school of art. Though Amaravati art pieces take the pride of place in India’s best museums, the sculptures in the site museum at Amaravati itself have not been assigned enough significance. This volume lists and analyses the museum antiquities typologically and chronologically. The effort includes all the museum antiquities, including many objects of seemingly minor importance, which are described in detail. Their types and features, provenance, probable period, measurements and accession number, references to them and details of inscriptions relating to them are provided. The catalogue of objects features twenty main headings including the pillars, slabs, pilasters, beads, ceramics and copper plate grants. There are photo illustrations of a large number of antiquities that form the museum collection which have enormous archaeological, epigraphic and iconographic merit. The book will interest historians, archaeologists and general readers keen on knowing about Indian culture and art.

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    The work it two volumes explores the physical and emotional interaction between Siva and Parvati as represented in sculptural works in the Indian subcontinent and examines a host of images supported by classifications of Siva-Parvati figures in texts like the Saiva Agamas and iconographic studies of the past decades. The images are related not only to religious beliefs but also iconographical.

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    Siva-Parvati and Allied Images by: Thomas Eugene Donaldson 7,200.00

    The work explores the physical and emotional interaction between Shiva and Parvati as represented in sculptural works in the Indian subcontinent. In two volumes, it examines a host of images supported by classifications of Shiva-Parvati figures in texts like the Shaiva âgamas and iconographic studies of the past decades. It surveys an astounding sculptural diversity of Shiva-Parvati icons particularly forms of seated or standing Umasahita-murti, standing Alingana murti and Tantric forms of the deities. The images are related not only to religious beliefs but also iconographical research — for instance, linking depiction of figures in certain postures and areas to their places of origin. With numerous charts, it highlights iconographical peculiarities, distribution and popularity, and identifies similarities and differences over periods of time and areas of making. Referring to sculptural collections in museums and private acquisitions, the painstaking research examines the sculptor’s technique of combining aesthetic harmony and beauty with the sacred in ontological symbols as of Umamaheshvara. There is a detailed mythological background concentrating on the individual character of Shiva and Parvati in their mutual relationship; their marriage and conjugal life; explicitly Shaiva motifs where the major concern is with the all-important Lord Shiva; and the physical and emotional interaction of Shiva and Parvati as man and wife. An entire volume is devoted to reproduction of the rich representative sculpture studied through more than 570 black and white photographs and over 160 colour plates. The volumes will prove useful for scholars of Indological art and art connoisseurs as well as general readers.

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