Some sculptures adorning the outer walls of the temples of medieval period of India, depict bold erotic themes of sexual act or union of male and females in unusual postures. This has evoked curiosity in many lovers of art and philosophy as to why erotic sculptures were part of temple architecture. This well illustrated research work explores the intentions of such sculptural representations and derives how the highly abstract, philosophical and universal topic of taming the mind through Raja yoga and forms of tantra yoga has been translated into the very attractive figurative form and presented in temples to give information about the esoteric knowledge.

Some sculptures adorning the outer walls of the temples of medieval period of India depict bold themes of love, and is presented along with figures of deities or puranic episodes. This set of love sculptures has evoked curiosity in many researchers of art and philosophy as to why pairing or Mithuna sculptures were part of temple architecture. This well illustrated research work explores the intentions of such sculptural representations and derives how the highly abstract, philosophical and universal topic of taming the mind through Raja yoga and forms of Tantra yoga has been translated into the very attractive figurative form and presented in temples to give information about the various forms of yogic principles that guide towards the attainment of bliss.

"Published by the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation, October 19, 2013 - January 26, 2014. Organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the exhibition travels to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, February 22-May 18, 2014, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, June 22-September 7, 2014."

Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world--practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim? In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (asana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented asana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising--and surely controversial--thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and "Hatha" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today. Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore asana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head.

"Ancient secrets from the yoga tradition for building good character and self-discipline, the seldom-taught but essential first steps for knowing God within."--Cover.

With the freshness of a memoir, author and yoga teacher Christina Sell draws upon her first visit to an extraordinary temple in southern India to present basic principles of yoga. Beyond the ordinary aims of yoga as a means of stretching and strengthening, or even for being happier or more centered, My Body is a Temple is an instruction manual for dedicating oneself to a life of the spirit, in and through the vehicle of the human body. The body as a temple is a common metaphor within many spiritual traditions. In this book, Christina Sell delves into the “how” and “why” of this widely accepted comparison. My Body Is a Temple will encourage readers to listen to and honor the body; and to enter more fully into their everyday lives to see that each activity contains a Divine blueprint for success. It will help any yoga student to reclaim the raw materials and energy, always already present, to build his or her body as a temple-to provide refuge and sanctuary for themselves and inspiration for others. While the author’s tradition is that of Anusara Yoga, a strongly heart-centered approach, the book is written for any hatha yoga aspirant or practitioner. Her commitment is to traditional yogic practices and ideals, without being rigid. My Body Is a Temple is a vital and realistic treatment about the process of human change and transformation. Beyond Fitness ... Yoga is a Means of Self-Honoring and Spiritual Transformation This book will be well-used by both students and teachers of yoga. It should be included in all yoga and fitness centers and in popular library collections.

The term hindu is referred to the religious life of the people of India, and Spirituality understood as wisdom about the way back into the ground of pluralism of religious forms. These two volumes are strucrtured along the division between the classical and the postclassical.Twenty seven scholars from around the world shed light on the spiritual beauty of Hinduisms poetry art and temples, festivals and music, as well as the contributions of modern pioneers such as Swami Vivekananda Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and others.