The Papers Included In This Book Are An Exhaustive Survey Of The Recent Sanskrit Literature And An Extensive Assessment About Its Relevance To The Contemporary Society. Sanskrit Literature Has Been Made Richer, Both In The Form And Content, By The Authors Of The 20Th Century, Who Are Very Much Open And Alive To The Contemporary Developments And Problems And Who Are Enthusiastic About Introducing Innovative Ideas Into Sanskrit Literature In Order To Enrich It Further. It Was Also Admitted That Still Much Is To Be Done To Widen The Field Of Sanskrit And This Can Be Made Possible By The Participation Of More Number Of Sanskrit Scholars. Havings Its Roots Firmly Struck In The Ground The Eternal And Speaking Tree Of Sanskrit Should Blossom New Flavour And Speaking The Fragrance Of Which Will Be Carried To Every Root And Corner Of The Word.

Research papers presented at various seminars.

On the completion of fiftieth year of Sahitya Akademi.

Challenges prevailing conceptions of what religious ritual does and how it achieves its ends. Religious rituals are often seen as unchanging and ahistorical bearers of long-standing traditions. But as this book demonstrates, ritual is a lively platform for social change and innovation in the religions of South Asia. Drawing from Hindu and Jain examples in India, Nepal, and North America,the essays in this volume, written by renowned scholars of religion, explore how the intentional, conscious, and public invention or alteration of ritual can effect dramatic social transformation, whether in dethroning a Nepali king or sanctioning same-sex marriage. Ritual Innovation shows how the very idea of ritual as a conservative force misreads the history of religion by overlooking ritual’s inherent creative potential and its adaptability to new contexts and circumstances. “The breadth of coverage in Ritual Innovation is extraordinary and refreshing in terms of the types of contemporary ritual practices and practitioners receiving attention, not to mention the geographic spread across South Asia. This book makes a significant contribution to the scholarly literature on South Asian religions and contemporary Hinduism.” — Karline McLain, author of The Afterlife of Sai Baba: Competing Visions of a Global Saint

The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion provides a comprehensive overview of the academic study of religion. Written by an international team of leading scholars, its fifty-one chapters are divided thematically into seven sections. The first section addresses five major conceptual aspects of research on religion. Part two surveys eleven main frameworks of analysis, interpretation, and explanation of religion. Reflecting recent turns in the humanities and social sciences, part three considers eight forms of the expression of religion. Part four provides a discussion of the ways societies and religions, or religious organizations, are shaped by different forms of allocation of resources. Other chapters in this section consider law, the media, nature, medicine, politics, science, sports, and tourism. Part five reviews important developments, distinctions, and arguments for each of the selected topics. The study of religion addresses religion as a historical phenomenon and part six looks at seven historical processes. Religion is studied in various ways by many disciplines, and this Handbook shows that the study of religion is an academic discipline in its own right. The disciplinary profile of this volume is reflected in part seven, which considers the history of the discipline and its relevance. Each chapter in the Handbook references at least two different religions to provide fresh and innovative perspectives on key issues in the field. This authoritative collection will advance the state of the discipline and is an invaluable reference for students and scholars.