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Religion and Culture...
Religion and Culture in Indian Civilization
Essays in Honour of Prof. C.N. Venugopal by: Amit Kumar SharmaThe volume speaks about the civilisational dimensions of religion and culture in India, unity and diversity of Indian civilisation, idea of civilisation, ecological crisis in the modern world, relationship between tribal and non-tribal religions, religious philanthropy, Christian influence on Hindu way of life in India, and concept of composite culture of India.
₹675.00
ISBN: 9788124605639
Year Of Publication: 2011
Edition: 1st
Pages : x, 318
Bibliographic Details : Index]
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23
Weight: 600
The volume deals with the civilizational dimensions of religion and culture in India. It underlines the point that religion and culture are important elements of all civilizations but it is their interplay that has given a unique feature to Indian civilization.
The essays interrogate the various western sociological discourses on civilization and articulate the alternative conceptualizations available in Indian sociology. They underline the unity and diversity of Indian civilization, present the idea of civilization as conjoined with the idea of civil society and study the ecological crisis in the modern world. They focus on the dialogical relationship between tribal and non-tribal religions, link between religion and environment, religious philanthropy and Christian influence on Hindu way of life in India. They also delve into the concept of composite culture in India, scrutinising aspects of folk religion and cultures to show, for instance, how art forms get accumulated into the idea of culture.
The volume will be of immense interest to a variety of scholars and students associated with the study of Indian religion and culture.
Preface
Introduction: Religion and Culture in India
— Amit Kumar Sharma
Part I: Conceptual Essays
1. Unity and Diversity in Indian Civilization
— Amit Kumar Sharma
2. The Study of World Religion
— Wagish Shukla
3. Culture, Institution and Contemporary Ecological Crisis
— Satish Jain
4. Power, Culture and Civil Society
— Anand Kumar
Part II: Religion in India
5. Dialogical Relationship Between Tribal and Non-tribal Religions in Indian Societies
— C.N. Venugopal
6. Christian Influences on the Hindu View and Way of Life
— Rabindra Ray
7. Religion and Environment: Some Insights from the Case of Bishnois
— Vinay Kumar Srivastava
8. Religious Philanthropy in India
— Amit Kumar Sharma
9. Travellers and Pilgrims
— Susan Visvanathan
10. Khasi Religious Beliefs and Practices
— Tiplut Nongbri
Part III: Culture in India
11. Composite Culture in India
— C.N. Venugopal
12. Culture in Bengal: A Small Town Diary
— Avijit Pathak
13. Saying God into Presence: Narrative Embodiment in Folk Religion
— Roma Chatterji
14. Sacred Knowledge: Articulation in Dance
— Nita Mathur
The Contributors
Index
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Sale!Journey to the Centre of my Being ₹315.00
Jim Wilson is an adventurer: mountaineering; Antarctic exploration; adventure films with Sir Edmund Hillary (on one of which he drove a jet boat up Mother Ganga from ocean to sky); climbing and school building with Sir Edmund in the Everest region of Nepal; and sailing to Pacific islands in a small yacht. These physical adventures provide an exciting backdrop to this book.
But Jim is also a religious adventurer. He relates in depth, with clarity and humour, his long journey in search of a satisfying way of understanding and experiencing the true nature of his self, and of his place in this mysterious universe. Studying Western philosophy and theology moved him away from intense involvement in the liberal Christianity of his parents. So he looked to India, inexhaustible source of inspiration. For two years he studied Indian philosophy and religion at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Then he taught for 23 years in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, returning many times to India and Nepal.
Though profoundly moved by the religions he studied and taught about, he was unable to accept the metaphysical beliefs underpinning them. Increasingly, though, he became fascinated by modern scientific discoveries about the universe, and about our planet and the evolution of life on it. So he wove together elements from religious and scientific traditions. In particular, he took Adi Shankara’s Advaita, also known as spiritual monism, and applied it to the physical universe, adding in also feelings and attitudes from New Zealand’s indigenous Maori religion. He now believes that the centre of his being is the physical energy of the universe, with which, therefore, he is at one. He finds this deeply satisfying in understanding, and emotionally and morally experiencing, his place on this planet and in the universe. Because it owes so much to spiritual monism he calls it physical monism, or physical Advaita. -
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Jainism regards life to be eternal. Recognizing that the soul can never die, but merely takes a new body, a careful tradition welcoming death through intentional fasting developed more than two thousand years ago. A legal challenge Rajasthan was put forward in 2013, suggesting that this practice is harmful and coercive and targets women in particular. For a short while Sallekhanā, which means the “thinning of existence,” was declared illegal. In response to this controversy, three conferences were convened by the International School for Jain Studies to explore the legal, religious, and medical aspects of this practice. Experts discussed the long history of the practice, attested to in epigraphs throughout India; the ways in which fasting to death has become an acceptable practice in the Western world; and contemporary instances of its observance in India. This volume presents an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about the end of life, from biomedical, historical, religious, and legal perspectives.
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This volume is a general, but a serious and in-depth study of distinct temple ritual cult of Kerala. Kerala Tantra still remains to be a less explored subject. There is no exclusive study on the ritual peculiarities of Kerala Tantra. This book focuses on filling that gap covering extensively the prominent characteristics of the unique ritual cult of Kerala.
The data presented in the book are based on many unpublished and less-known, but authentic manuscripts of late medieval period, and interviews with previous and current generations of tantrins and their testimonies. It covers the great traditions of Tantra, Kerala Tantra, and transmission of tantric knowledge through formal and informal methods. It also talks about the institutionalization of Tantric education, taking a cue from the context of Vedic and Sanskrit education of Kerala. -
Sale!Ethics and Culture Vol. 3 ₹630.00
The present volume of Ethics and Culture contains six articles of renowned teachers of Philosophy who are also the members of the Value Group, Centre of Advanced Study in Philosophy, Jadavpur University. In all these articles authors have explored the contributions of the great thinkers of modern India regarding the value system of our country. Here the perspectives of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dwijendranath Tagore, Tarabai Shinde, J.N. Mohanty and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa have been discussed in detail as all of them have a distinct view and faith on the traditional cultural beliefs of India and also have taken a critical approach to judge the mundane, orthodox attitude of people.
The authors have explained the views of these great thinkers as their unique interpretations about Indian tradition can be used as a weapon against cultural encroachment and intolerance. The book, thus, helps to revive the true essence of our culture which is veiled by many socio-political factors of the present world.
