This book presents an analysis of the foundations organised by the Birla family in India. Several generations were involved in the renovation and establishment of sanctuaries, temples and other sacral buildings. As a result, between 1933 and 1998, nineteen Birla Mandirs were established, mainly in northern and central India. All the temples have the capacity to surprise with their various decorative motifs, not seen in other places, which – apart from their aesthetic function – above all bear important symbolic content. Therefore, is it possible to treat the Birla Mandirs as a specific medium – the carrier of a particular message that is not only religious, but with a significance that permeates other layers of social and political discourse. This message, as the authors of the book claim, have a bearing on the socio-political thought of India – supported by the creation and propagation of ideas related to identity and a national art. It also conveys the idea of hierarchical Hindu inclusivism which, although considering all religions as equal, treats Hinduism in a unique way – seeing within it the most perfect form of religion, giving man the opportunity to learn the highest truth. The book also examines whether the temples founded by the Birla family and the religious activities undertaken therein apply the concept of “inventing” tradition, and whether traditions created (or “modernised”) in contemporary times are a way of enhancing the appeal of the message conveyed from temple to society. “The Vastness of Culture” is a series of publications presenting cultural studies and emphasizing the role of comparative research and analyses that reveal similarities, differences and intercultural influences. In our publications, cultures and civilizations are in a state of constant flux, engaging in dialogue, creating new understandings, competing for meaning under the influence of global content, without any clear boundaries, but with a vastness that forces questions to be raised.

As an invitation to interrogate the secular modality of art, the book unsettles both the categories of 'art' and 'secular' in their theoretical and historical implications. It questions the temporal, spatial and cultural binaries between the 'sacred' and the 'secular' that have shaped art historical scholarship as well as artistic practice. All the essays here are anchored in a conception of a region, whether we call it South Asia or the Indian subcontinent – one, fissured by histories of partition, state formations and religious nationalisms, but still offering a collective site from which to speak to the disciplines of art and the knowledge worlds in which they are embedded. The book asks: How do we complicate the religious designations of pre-modern art and architecture and the new forms of their resurgence in contemporary iconographies and monuments? How do we re-conceptualize the public and the political, as fiery contestations and new curatorial practices reconfigure the meaning of art in the proliferating spaces of museums, galleries, biennales and festivals? How do we understand South Asian art's deep entanglements with the politics of the present?

We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Chandragupta Maurya evolved from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon. The key moment in the making of this Indian hero was a meeting by the banks of the River Indus between Chandragupta and Seleucus, founder of the Seleucid empire and one of Alexander the Great’s generals, in c.305-3 BC. This significant event was a moment of peace-making at the end of conflict. But no reliable account exists in early sources, and it is not even clear which ruler was victorious in battle. This uncertainty enabled British and Indian historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to interpret the sources in radically different ways. With Chandragupta representing India and Seleucus standing in for Britain, British scholars argued that Seleucus defeated Chandragupta, while Indian academics contended the opposite. The writing and reception of history fundamentally influences how we engage with the past, and the evolving colonial and post-colonial relationship between Britain and India is crucial here. In India, the image of Chandragupta as an idealised hero who vanquished the foreign invader has prevailed and found expression in contemporary popular culture. In plays, films, television series, comic books and historical novels, Chandragupta is the powerful and virtuous Hindu ruler par excellence. The path to this elevated standing is charted in this book.

This book presents research on the temples founded by the Birla family in northern and central India. It examines the whole of the Birlas' sacral foundations, both their importance in the context of national art as well as their function in the social or political discourse on identity in pre-independence India.

First published in 1892, this popular account of Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism serves as a spirited introduction to the diverse faiths of the peoples of the Indian subcontinent. Students of global religions and those seeking to understand the burgeoning influence of these cultures will be fascinated by: . the religious basis of Rig-Veda . the revelation of divine knowledge represented by the Upanishads . the Sankhya philosophy of an eternal soul . caste and class in Hinduism . the many incarnations of Vishnu and Krishna . the contradictory stations of women throughout Indian culture . temptation, evil, and self-discipline in Buddhism . and much more. GEORGE THOMAS BETTANY (1850-1891) is also the author of The Dark Peoples of the Land of Sunshine (1890) and Primitive Religions (1891).

Ayodhya imbroglio - Babri Masjid demolition meant many things to many. For some it triggered off a chain of, law and order problems. For some it demoted our economy. For some it deepened Hindu-Muslim divide. For some it worsened Hindu-Muslim hate. For some it meant religious mania. For some it was political advantage by polarization of communal vote banks. For some it was depletion of vote bank. For some it was a blessing and for some it was a curse. But for Jahan Shah, a young IPS Officer, who is also the hero of the story, it was a com of two sides... one side, the mirror and the other side, me fire I On one side, the Ayodhya mirror reflected almost all follies we had. Our political folly, our social folly, our economic folly, our illiteracy, lack of awareness, poverty, our priority, our policy, our discrete discretion and discrimination... any thing and every thing! All dogmas on the earth, on Indian Earth! This novel The Great Indian Inferno crafted around the 'Ayodhya entanglement' is a timely one. The author P.V. Jaganmohan blends fact with fiction with admirable creative dexterity. He has presented a spellbinding narrative that draws sustenance from the ill-perceived notion of cultural identity. Author narrative exalts the power of common place words and creates a symphony of many voices that augers well for our plural society.

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