Meeting God : elements of Hindu devotion / text and photographs by Stephen P. Huyler ; foreword by Thomas Moore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Huyler, Stephen P., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hinduism--Rituals.

Hinduism.

Worship (Hinduism).

Hindu gods.

Hinduism--India--Rituals.

Hinduism--India--Rituals--Pictorial works.

India--Religious life and customs.

India--Religious life and customs--Pictorial works.

Local Subjects:

Hinduism--India--Rituals.

Hinduism--India--Rituals--Pictorial works.

India--Religious life and customs.

India--Religious life and customs--Pictorial works.

Physical Description:

271 pages : illustrations, map ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1999]

Summary:

For the hundreds of millions of Hindu people in India, devotional practices offer meaning and balance to daily existence. Household rituals and community festivals frame Hindu life, and prayers enfold the hours--acknowledging the sacred dawn, honoring the spirits within the tools of one's work, seeking the protection of deities in the night. This beautiful book is the first to enable readers in the West to witness the breadth and vitality of the reverential Hindu experience in India. With hundreds of pictures to fire the imagination and eloquent descriptions of the wide scope of Hindu beliefs and practices, the book is a deeply satisfying introduction to the religion embraced by one-sixth of the world's people, including more than one million adherents in the United States.

Stephen Huyler's arresting photographs document the spirituality of common men and women in India. His evocative pictures, set in houses, at roadsides, and in temples, enable us to see directly into the heart of Hindu belief: the essential moment of worship known as darshan, or "seeing and being seen by God." With definitions, descriptions, and captivating stories of Hindu individuals at worship, Huyler offers us a deep understanding of the Hindu people, their belief in the spiritual component of all human activity, their awareness of the sacred, their daily worship experiences, and their ways of meeting God.

Contents:

1 Concepts of Hindu Devotion 20

2 Approaching God: Elements of Worship 44

3 The Soul of Family: Worship in the Home 64

4 Honoring the Spirit of Community 90

5 Answered Prayers: The Evolution from Shrine to Temple 114

6 Deities on Parade: Sacred Images in Procession 156

7 Embracing the Ephemeral: Transitory Images 174

8 Healing, Sacred Vows, and Possession 208

9 The Final Stages: Old Age and Renunciation 232.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0300079834

0300079842

OCLC:

40830057