The annual festivals that are central to the south Indian religious tradition are among the largest religious gatherings in the world. This text offers a fieldwork-based study of 14 different religious festivals.

Explores the contemporary nature and the diverse narratives, rituals, and performances of the Navar?tri festival. Nine Nights of the Goddess explores the festival of Navarātri—alternatively called Navarātra, Mahānavamī, Durgā Pūjā, Dasarā, and/or Dassain—which lasts for nine nights and ends with a celebration called Vijayadaśamī, or "the tenth (day) of victory." Celebrated in both massive public venues and in small, private domestic spaces, Navarātri is one of the most important and ubiquitous festivals in South Asia and wherever South Asians have settled. These festivals share many elements, including the goddess, royal power, the killing of demons, and the worship of young girls and married women, but their interpretation and performance vary widely. This interdisciplinary collection of essays investigates Navarātri in its many manifestations and across historical periods, including celebrations in West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. Collectively, the essays consider the role of the festival's contextual specificity and continental ubiquity as a central component for understanding South Asian religious life, as well as how it shapes and is shaped by political patronage, economic development, and social status.

Bringing together Hiltebeitel's major essays on the the Mah?bh?rata, the R?m?ya?a, and the south Indian cults of Draupad? and K?tt???avar along with new articles written especially for this collection, this two volume work offers a comprehensive re-reading of the Indian epic tradition by the foremost scholar in Indian epic studies today.

Mauritius : a parallel society -- Guyana : invented traditions -- Trinidad : ethnic religion -- South Africa : reform religion -- Fiji : a segregated society -- East Africa : caste religion.

From the doctrines of Islam and the practices of Muslims, to the significance of Islam in the modern world, this volume provides a concise introduction to all aspects of the Islamic faith.

In examining the visual culture of the "classic" African and Jewish diasporas, contributors address different aspects of the multiple viewpoints inherent in diasporic cultures.

A profound, startling new understanding of Jewish life, illuminating the forgotten heart of Jewish theology and practice: love. A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held—one of the most important Jewish thinkers in America today—recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. Blending intellectual rigor, a respect for tradition and the practices of a living Judaism, and a commitment to the full equality of all people, Held seeks to reclaim Judaism as it authentically is. He shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness. Ambitious and revelatory, Judaism Is About Love illuminates the true essence of Judaism—an act of restoration from within.