The Life of Hinduism

introduction. 25 butions by the editors of this volume. In the first of these, John Hawley reports on a trip he made to Ayodhya ...

26. introduction teed that it would instantly come to the attention of Hindus living in countries all over the world. Yet althou ...

introduction. 27 NOTES James Heitzman, Network City: Planning the Information Society in Bangalore (Delhi: Oxford University Pr ...

28. introduction duism’: The Impact of the Protestant Missionary Movement on Hindu Self- Understanding,” in Christians and Missi ...

introduction. 29 Dattatreya. Hindus and Muslims visit this shrine in common and have done so for gen- erations, but the VHP is d ...

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part i. WORSHIP ...

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1. The Experience Approaching God stephen p. huyler 33 This essay was previously published as “Approaching God,” in Meeting God( ...

34. worship figure 2 Adorning a kolamdiagram, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Photo by Stephen Huyler. Mariamman every day in his household ...

figure 3 On the way to temple, Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. Photo by Stephen Huyler. ...

36. worship Children are on both sides. He reaches up to ring a bell suspended from the stone ceiling. Its strong tone clears hi ...

the experience. 37 desert or in drought conditions will sprinkle a few drops of precious water on their faces, hands, and feet b ...

38. worship considered indiscreet and invasive to the deity. The image may be seen by others only when it is properly dressed an ...

the experience. 39 in close proximity to it. During the puja rituals the deity is believed to symbolically consume the food. In ...

40. worship the lamp is being waved. Fire was worshipped in ancient India as the God Agni, and today fire is a primary symbol of ...

the experience. 41 white clay to apply two vertical lines joined at the base and intersected by a bright red streak. The white l ...

2. The Deity The Image of God diana l. eck 42 The vivid variety of Hindu deities is visible everywhere in India. Rural India is ...

figure 4 “One Soul, Two Bodies.” Poster illustration by Yogendra Rastogi, purchased in Brindavan, August 2005. ...

44. worship elephant-headed god who sits at the thresholds of space and time and who blesses all beginnings, and then proceed th ...