Hinglaj Devi

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgments -- Conventions for transliteration, transcription and sources -- Introduction -- The struggle over truth -- Hinglaj in perspective -- Historical Representations and recent changes -- (Un)necessary hardships in "getting there"--Change and perseverance -- Solidifying Hinglaj: Striving for a uniform tradition -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

This volume explores current images of afterlife/afterdeath and the presence of the dead in the imaginations of the living in Indian and European traditions. Specifically, it focuses on the deepest and most fundamental uncertainty of human existence---the awareness of human mortality, on which depends any assignment of meaning to earthly existence as also to notions of worldly and otherworldly salvation. This central idea is addressed in the literature, arts, audiovisual media and other cultural artefacts of the two traditions. The chapters are based on two main assumptions: First, that one cannot report on the direct experience of death; so it is only possible to speak allegorically of it. Second, in contemporary Western societies, marked by structural atheism, people look at literature, the arts and mass media to study their depiction and reading of traditionally religious questions of disease, death and the Beyond. This is in contrast to Asian civilizations whose preoccupation with death and Beyond is persistent and perhaps central to the civilizations’ highest thought. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of disciplinary approaches, from psychoanalysis to religious, anthropological, literary and film studies, from sociology and philosophy to art history, and address issues of unsettling power: comforting illusions of afterlife; the relations between afterlife and fertility; visions of technological immortalization of mankind; the problem of thinking about death after the “death of God”; socialist utopias of bodily immortality; fear of Hell and punishment; different concepts in relating the living and the dead; near-death experiences; and cultural practices of spiritualism, occultism and suicide.

For centuries, the Aghori have been known as the most radical ascetics in India: living naked on the cremation grounds, meditating on corpses, engaging in cannibalism and coprophagy, and consuming intoxicants out of human skulls. In recent years, however, they have shifted their practices from the embrace of ritually polluted substances to the healing of stigmatized diseases. In the process, they have become a large, socially mainstream, and politically powerful organization. Based on extensive fieldwork, this lucidly written book explores the dynamics of pollution, death, and healing in Aghor medicine. Ron Barrett examines a range of Aghor therapies from ritual bathing to modified Ayurveda and biomedicines and clarifies many misconceptions about this little-studied group and its highly unorthodox, powerful ideas about illness and healing.

This book is collections of facts on Maa Shakti and Universe Creator Shiva. There are various names of Maa of Sati, Devi, Shakti, Kali and Durga etc. Shakti has always in daily prayers of every Hindu and gives enormous strength and confidence in daily life. With the above, To write a book on this subject with the help of Maa Shakti and Shiva, Creator of Universe. It is like a prayer to write a book on Maa Shakti and Shiva, Universe Creator. It was an experience of life of purification of mind and body going through the Three Parts of the Book. Part 1; Introduction of shakti & shiva Part 2; Fifty one shakti peethas, divine place of shakti Part 3; Twelve jyotirlingas, shvaambhu places of shiva

i have run an experiment, where i could see the god in different human beings and i identified which Hindu gods/goddesses did i meet everyday. - Sai Baba

Swarupa Gupta outlines a paradigm for moving beyond ethnic fragmentation by showing how people made places to forge an interregional arena. The analysis includes interpretive strategies to mediate contemporary separatisms.

The history of Garhwal:Garhwal Diaries is a pioneering attempt in which the complete histoy of Uttarkhand, from Stone age to 1949, when tehri Garhwal State integrated with the indian union, has been included in one work. it has added new information and unearthed new sources to corrobrate the views of the author. New facts have been provided on both the Chand dynasty of Kumaon and the parmar rulers of Garhwal as well as tehri grhwal state . This book covers British rule, the role of women in the Freedom movement and many things This is the outcome of many years of keen observation of the linguistic and cultural phenomena of the whole Himalayan region, right from Ladakh in the west to Bhutan in the east and an intensive study of ancient Indian Literature and of the historical incidents that have taken place in these Central Himalayan regions.

Forests are critical for sustainable development, environment and also for livelihood. They provide a wealth of goods and services that are essential for people's lives, cash income and green economy. Maintaining and enhancing our planet's forest resources is essential if we are to succeed in the global efforts to alleviate poverty, address water scarcity and biodiversity loss, and mitigate climate change. Culturally and historically, the intrinsic value of forests, and the spiritual and sacred use of forests have great importance to local communities and our cultural identity. This book on Sustainable Forestry: Emerging Challenges, written by experienced academicians, scientists and other researchers shows the present ongoing initiatives in the country to address sustainable forestry and its management. An estimated 230 million people in India rely on forests for their livelihoods to some degree, including some 60 million indigenous people and other forest-dwelling communities. While more than two billion people - the developing world's population use fodder, biomass fuels, mainly firewood, to cook food and large number of non-timber forest products for their day-to-day needs.