On Hinduism is a penetrating analysis of many of the most crucial and contested issues in Hinduism, from the Vedas to the present day. In a series of 63 connected essays, it discusses Hindu concepts of polytheism, death, gender, art, contemporary puritanism, non-violence, and much more.

This book provides a description and interpretation of the religion of the Hindus, focusing on their religious psychology and behaviour. Rejecting familiar assumptions about early Hinduism, Nirad C. Chaudhuri makes a brilliant reassessment of its formative influences and examines temple and image worship in general, and the three major cults of Siva, Krishna and the Mother Goddess.

An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms to consider history as a whole.

The book is journey through 5000 years of evolution of Hinduism, and is outcome of seven years of study to understand the roots of Hinduism. Tracing the genesis of Hinduism to pre-Indus Valley period, the book explains Hindu, Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma, before it takes one through Hinduism’s oldest scriptures - the four Vedas, the four components of each Veda, and what they contain. How all original translations of Vedic texts were done by Western Sanskrit scholars, and why their works have left scope for doubt about the fidelity of translations. The yajnas (yagya) like Ashvamedha, Rajsooya, Vajpeya, etc., about which we only hear on TV serials and talk shows, have been demystified. The reader will be taken aback reading the sheer size and scale of Soma yajna, described step by step, in great detail. Hinduism’s journey to the Age of Reason, the Upanishads, its encounter with Buddhism, and its transformation into idol worshipping society with many gods and a multitude of stories about its millions of gods is lucidly explained. Puranas, what they contain and what was the reason they were created, has been described and explained next. Hinduism's journey to its modern form - idol worship, the modern puja, detailed description of puja and Sanskaras like Vivaha, their detailed description, the meaning of each action and how they are conducted, the gift to the priest, types of idols, their consecration, all are explained to help a reader understand the why and the how of what we do as a Hindu. The book concludes with a discussion of - Do mantras have power? & Do rituals have meaning?

An authoritative collection on the history of Hindu religious practices. Hindu Practice considers traditions of asceticism, yoga, and devotion, including dance and music, developed in Hinduism over long periods of time.

K. M. Sen recounts the history of Hinduism from the Indus Valley civilization and the Vedic age in the third and second millennia BCE, and the births of Buddhism, Jainism and ancient agnosticism. Along with the influence of other religions that came to India, such as the establishment of Christianity by the fourth century, the book looks in detail at the arrival of Islam and its impact on Hinduism. Sen also examines customs, festivals and rituals; the caste system and its exponents as well as detractors and the spread of Hinduism and outside India, as in Indonesia and Indo-China. In a new foreword, the author's grandson Amartya Sen discusses the intellectual background of the book and the interactive nature of Hinduism in a multicultural India.

Hinduism is practised by about 80% of India's population, and by about 30,000,000 people outside India. But how is Hinduism defined, and what basis does the religion have? This work gives concise insights into the central preoccupations of Hinduism.