On the history and religious importance of the city of Varanasi.

Long before the first European universities appeared, India already had multi-disciplinary centers of learning that fueled a knowledge revolution around the world. This book fills a dire need to chronicle the great educational heritage of India. It describes a unique ecosystem which ensured that Gurus and Acharyas handed the lamp of learning to generations of students. As the author puts it, "When swords quenched their thirst and famine ravaged the lands, Indians still held on to their truth that there was nothing more purifying than knowledge." She has collated information from oral history, local lore, travelogs, surviving literature, inscriptions, salvaged manuscripts, and accounts of scholars and laity. Historically, the book covers a vast time span from ancient India's traditions to the deliberate destruction of its heritage. It also outlines steps that can be taken today to incorporate the most relevant aspects of ancient learning systems into the current structure of school and university education.

This book offers a translation of the seven thousand verses of the second book of the medieval Hindu text, the Ganesa Purana, one of two Puranas dedicated to the important elephant-headed god. In this book the reader is given many narratives about Ganesas ascent to earth in order to kill demonic figures who threaten to overthrow the correct world order. In addition, these narratives contain myths about Ganesa's birth and family as well as some extended and quite humorous myths about ideal devotees of the god.The translation is preceded by a long introduction offering a geographical and historical context for the GanesaPurana. Following the translation are very extensive notes which bring our points of philological interest, but focus mainly on the literary structure of the text and the methods used to present the many myths and narratives in a coherent and fully integrated manner.