"Hindoo Tales: Or, the Adventures of Ten Princes" by active 7th century Dandin Daṇḍi or Daṇḍin was an Indian Sanskrit grammarian and author of prose romances. He is one of the best-known writers in Asian history. This book is a collection of his tales and contains: Adventures Of Somadatta, Adventures Of Pushpodbhava, Marriage Of Avantisundari, Further Adventures Of Râjavâhana, Adventures Of Apahâravarma, Adventures Of Upahâravarma, Adventures Of Arthapâla, Adventures Of Pramati, Adventures Of Mitragupta, Adventures Of Mantragupta, and Adventures Of Visruta.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.

The Indian state of West Bengal is home to one of the world's most vibrant traditions of goddess worship. The year's biggest holidays are devoted to the goddesses Durga and Kali, with lavish rituals, decorated statues, fireworks, and parades. In Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls, June McDaniel provides a broad, accessibly written overview of Bengali goddess worship. McDaniel identifies three major forms of goddess worship, and examines each through its myths, folklore, songs, rituals, sacred texts, and practitioners. In the folk/tribal strand, which is found in rural areas, local tribal goddesses are worshipped alongside Hindu goddesses, with an emphasis on possession, healing, and animism. The tantric/yogic strand focuses on ritual, meditation, and visualization as ways of experiencing the power of the goddess directly. The devotional or bhakti strand, which is the most popular form, involves the intense love and worship of a particular form of the goddess. McDaniel traces these strands through Bengali culture and explores how they are interwoven with each other as well as with other forms of Hinduism. She also discusses how these practices have been reinterpreted in the West, where goddess worship has gained the values of sexual freedom and psychological healing, but lost its emphases on devotion and asceticism. Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls takes the reader inside the lives of practicing Shaktas, including holy women, hymn singers, philosophers, visionaries, gurus, ascetics, healers, musicians, and businessmen, and offers vivid descriptions of their rituals, practices, and daily lives. Drawing on years of fieldwork and extensive research, McDaniel paints a rich, expansive portrait of this fascinating religious tradition.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.