India Books

This is a path-breaking study of tribal-hinduism cultural interface, hopefully students and scholars will make use of it to reject the notion of "great" v/s "little" traditions of Hinduism.

Yes, this book is written by V.S. Naipal's father. I found when I sought out and read it, after studying "A House for Mr. Biswas" in university, that it read very much like the landmark book of V.S. Naipal. I learned more about the relationship between father and son, and how finally the father's book came to be published, and it put "A House for Mr. Biswas" in a whole new light. I highly recommend reading these two books together for anyone that "A House for Mr. Biswas" really appealed to, as it did me. I will not say more about Seepersad Naipal's book, so as not to influence the reader, and as well, I recommend learning more about the relationship between these two men. The father's seeming obscurity as compared to his son's being very well known juxtaposes in a very interesting way while reflecting on their respective literary works. Edna K.

After Empire is a revealing window into identity and displaced cultures. The novelists featured are themselves unique writers and have interesting personal journies that are reflected in the book. While at first reading the book may appear academic in approach, it is certainly not an intimidating read for those with an interest in literature and the way in which race, ethnicity and culture form individual and national identity. An intellectually challenging and fascinating exploration of the perspectives of the colonisers and the colonised .

OV Vijayan is one of the world's greatest writers of short fiction. Unfortunately he has not received the publicity he deserves. This collection is superb; ranging from horrifying allegories of power and corruption to biting sarcasm and satire to stunning stories of transcendental mysticism. Vijayan has translated the stories himself from Malayalam, and his language is fabulous -- in fact, I have read the stories in both the original and in translation and I am hard pressed to tell which is better. The almost-Victorian language he uses for his tales of terror adds deliciously to the gothic horror. In his transcendental stories, his language is much more naturalistic. There are several masterpieces in this collection: the title story, about a simple peasant going to the jail to receive the body of his executed son; the brilliant 'Wart' about absolute power; 'Airport' and 'Little Ones' about the magic that underlies Vijayan's mysterious Malabar Coast, India's stunningly and lushly beautiful Emerald Coast in the state of Kerala. This collection has been reissued in a new Penguin India Collected Edition -- along with novels "Khasak", "Infinity of Grace" and the "Saga of Dharmapuri". Definitely recommended. I am amazed Amazon does not carry this Collected Edition as it only came out in 1998. On another note, "The Wart" is being made into a film by filmmaker Murali Nair who won the Cannes 1999 "Camera d'Or" for best debut film. Presumably this will be a good film. Also, Vijayan is busy at this time translating his latest novel, "Generations", another masterpiece, a semi-autobiographical family saga a bit like Faulkner's or Marquez's or Gunter Grass' work.

The story of a chapter in the life of a person who is open to her whole environment. Without pre-conceptions to project at the local Nepalese villagers, where she lived during this story, she was welcomed by a community. She was drawn into the heart of their households to stir interesting foods around the fire. The ceremonies are described with clear articulation and a both academic and spiritual understanding. For Monica Connell flew to Nepal an anthropologist and returned years later, a phyilosopher.
This book was republished in German in summer, 2001.

Gloriously illustrated childrens book.

A wonderful story about the pastimes of Krsna, the perfect child.

When his friends are swollowed by a great serpent monster, Krsna must find a way to save his friends. With his special powers he slays the demon and rescues his friends.

Wonderful stylistic illustrations full of glorious detail and clever perspectives - the boys running through the forest, trailed by shadows and the shadows of the birds above and so on.

I'm so in love with this book, which was one of my childhood treasures, that I am going to purchase the two available second hand copies for my son and his cousins.

In fact, the illustrations which are slightly reminiscent of the earlier Disney movies (such as Beauty & the Beast) inspired me to become an animator.

I can't wait for the next generation to enjoy them, and this is one story I would kill to see an animated adventure of. Until then, love the book!

Very worth adding to your collection, and is a book which will surely be requested repeatedly.

kotori - ojadis@yahoo.com

This is an excellent showcase of the Indian Mughal art - the Taj Mahal being the epitome. Giv es an excellent overview of the history. The commentary is good and the pictures, escpecially of the Taj on a moonlit night, are breathtaking.

Also gives a brief on places to see in and aeound Agra. Makes one want to visit Agra more than before.

Oh man these guys are really fantastic. After reading this book and applying the simple principles within my AIDS cleared up within TWO WEEK.

A++++ would recommend to anyone with AIDS!

The illustrations in this UNESCO book - both the few black and white ones in the text and the exquisite color ones in the back section - are superb. Though brief, the text fully details the murky history of preservational thought during the time following first discovery in 1817 of what had been magnificently accomplished within the first century A.D. It also provides fascinating details such as how the rock walls were prepared and how the actual painting was done. The religious or sacred background here forms the foundation for later artistic developments in Asia much as Western art was influenced by early classical Greece and Rome. Both style and method could be instructive and inspirational to contemporary artists.

Contents :
Preface
List of Contributors
List of Text-Figures
List of Illustrations
Prof. Ajay Mitra Shastri : A Biographical Sketch
Bibliography of the Writing of Prof. Ajay Mtra Shastri

Volume I

Archaeology, History & Historical Geography
1. Earthquakes and Civilization-H.D. Sankalia
2. Marine Archaeology in India-S.R. Rao
3. Metallurgy in Ancient Karnataka-A.V. Narasimha Murthy
4. The Rise of Culture in Saryupur Plain (with Special Reference to Excavations of Narhan)-Purushottam Singh
5. The Burial Practices of Megalithic People : Some Observations-K.P. Rao
6. The Rgvedic Drsadvati-O.P. Bharadwaj
7. Interpretation and Archaeological Correlation of a passage from Pancavimsa Brahmana-H.A. Phadke
8. Elephantry through the Ages-G.N. Pant
9. The Naga Theory of Primitive History-H.L. Shukla
10. Political System in Early Coastal Andhra-P.V. Parabrahma Sastry
11. Ekamra Bhubaneswara-S. Tripathy
12. The So-called Murunda Rule in Orissa-Ashvini Agrawal
13. New Light on Yasodharman Visnuvardhana and the Hunas-Jagannath Agrawal
14. Political Conditions as Narrated in the Vipakasutra-Rasesh Jamindar
15. The Jain Angas and Towns-R.N. Mehta
16. Cattle-Rearing in Early Medieval India-Lallanji Gopal
17. Archaeological Excavations at Antichak-Bhagwant Sahai
18. The State and the Guilds in Medieval Andhradesa-P. Chenna Reddy
19. Identification of Supratisthita Ahara-H.S. Thosar
20. Slavery in Golden Goa-J. Velinker
21. Folkloristic Factors in Telegu Toponyms and Anthroponyms-S.S. Ramachandra Murthy

Epigraphy & Numismatics
22. Pataliputra and Asoka`s Edicts-B.N. Mukherjee
23. Discovery of a Brahmi Inscription at Ter-K.D. Kawadkar
24. The Royal Epithets and the Epithets of Mahaksatrapa Rudradaman-S.P. Tewari
25. Donative Inscriptions (Dana-Sasanas) : Interpretations and Uses for Historical Research-Cynthia Talbot
26. Mehuna Stone Inscription : Saka 747-V.B. Kolte
27. Lakhari Inscription of Maharajadhiraja Abha(ya) deva, Vikrama 1124-Ram Sharma
28. Two Inscription from Nadendla-C. Somasundara Rao
29. A Fourteenth Century Bilingual Inscription from Gujarat-Z.A. Desai
30. Decipherment Century Bilingual Inscription from Gujarat-Z.A. Desai
31. Early Indian Coins and Economic History : Trends & Prospects-Krishan Mohan Shrimali
32. An Introduction to the study of Numismatic Epigraphy-Bhaskar Chatterjee
33. Numismatic Symbols in Rock Paintings-V.S. Wakankar
34. On a Numismatic Symbol : Nandipada-A.L. Srivastava
35. Rajghat Salings and their Bearing on the Religious History of Varanasi-T.P. Verma
36. Some Rare Coins of Satavahana Dynasty-D. Raja Reddy & Suryanarayana Reddy
37. Maharathi Coins & their Chronology-T.V.G. Sastri
38. salankayana Coins from Ghantasala, District Krsna (A.P)-I.K. Sarma
39. Gold Coins of Vigraharajadeva-Prashant P. Kulkarni
40. A New Copper Coin of Iltutmish-Lalman
41. The Silver Coin of Ibrahim Lodi from Chanderi Mint of Malwa Sultanate-S.K. Bhatt
42. The Rechnique of Minting Coinage in North-Eastern States of India-R.D. Choudhary
43. Rebel King Ramakanta (1769-70) and his Coins-Jai Prakash Singh

Volume II

Art, Architecture & Iconography
44. Problems of Rock Art-M.K. Dhavalikar
45. Buddha and Maitreya in Early India Art-K.D. Bajpai
46. Iconography of Buddhism : The Bengal Chapter-D.C. Bhattacharyya
47. Technique of Indian Sculptures : Some Preliminary Observations-Gautam Sengupta
48. Temporal Seat of Authority in Rural and Urban Settlements expresses through Religious Edifices-R. Nagaswamy
49. Fish Motif in Protohistoric India-S.P. Shukla
50. A Priceless Gem of the Sunga Terracotta Art-K.S. Shukla
51. Sasthi in Literature & Art- N.P. Joshi
52. Mahisamardini Plaque in the Gurukul Museum at Jhajjar, Haryana-R.C. Agrawal
53. Tiles from Harvan-B.V. Shetti
54. Terracottas from Thanesar-Mohinder Singh
55. Discovery of Gandhara Sculptures-Suwarcha Paul
56. Krsna Lila in Sculptural Reliefs and Temples-Ratan Parimoo
57. Krsna as Found in Early Literature and Art of South India-M.L. Nigam
58. Some Lost Monuments of Orissa-D.R. Das
59. The Asana Pattikas or Kaksasanas in the Kakatiya Temples-Y. Gopala Reddy
60. Feudal Content of Pala Art : A Framework for Enquiry-V.K. Thakur
61. Pala Jaina Images from Rajgir-Maruti Nandan Pd. Tiwari & Kamal Giri
62. Proud Possessions of Mandsaur Museum-Kirti K. Shash & Kailash Chandra Pande
63. Sculptural Wealth of Ahmadpur-B.L. Nagarch
64. Some Rare Icons in the Wild Region of Bastar-V.D. Jha
65. Vaikuntha Images from Punjab-Devendra Handa
66. Memorial Tablets from Rajasthan- Vijai Shankar Srivastava
67. Panch-Mahal of Fatehpur Sikri : Architectural Derivation & Raison D`Etre-R.Nath
68. Citrakathi Tradition of Painting-Shridhar Andhare
69. Statues of Queen Victoria-Arundhati Banerji
70. Vicissitudes of Visakhapatnam and its Ivory Craft-D.N. Varma
71. Smrti Sangrahalaya, Sardarshahr (Rajasthan) - An Introduction-Avinash Handa

Religion, Philosophy, Language & Literature
72. Buddhist Parivrajaka : Genesis and Early History-Pranabananda Jash
73. Process of Death in Early Buddhism-Mahesh Tiwari
74. Significance of Some Buddhist Myths and Symbols-Kewal Krishan Mittal
75. Buddhism and its Interaction with other Cultures in Afghanistan : Problems and Perspectives-V.C. Srivastava
76. Jain : A Retrospect of the Term-Gopi Lal Amar
77. Identification of Sastitantra-Satya Vrat
78. Iconology and Semantics : Laksana, Laksana and Rasa-V.S. Pathak
79. Heir Apparent and "Putrika-putra" (in the Arthasastra)-Sadashiv A. Dange
80. The Principles of Jatyutkarsa in the Social Evolution-S.S. Dange
81. The cloud above Devagiri-Verses 44 of Meghadutam-S.V. Sohono
82. (Hindi Article) - Ramesh Chandra Sharma