From approximately the third century BCE through the thirteenth century CE, the remote mountainous landscape around the glacial sources of the Ganga (Ganges) River in the Central Himalayas in northern India was transformed into a region encoded with deep meaning, one approached by millions of Hindus as a primary locus of pilgrimage.
Nachiket Chanchani’s innovative study explores scores of stone edifices and steles that were erected in this landscape. Through their forms, locations, interactions with the natural environment, and sociopolitical context, these lithic ensembles evoked legendary worlds, embedded historical memories in the topography, changed the mountain range’s appearance, and shifted its semiotic effect. Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains also alters our understanding of the transmission of architectural knowledge and provides new evidence of how an enduring idea of India emerged in the subcontinent.
Art History Publication Initiative. For more information, visit http://arthistorypi.org/books/mountain-temples-and-temple-mountains
A comprehensive guide to the fundamentals of Buddhism, how it specifically evolved in Tibet and the Himalaya, and how it is practised today in Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan.
This is a good introduction for the general public, and travellers to the region, including the many trekkers who now venture into these parts. The book avoids the overtly religious or academic tone found in some other texts on the subject. It is abundantly illustrated, with over three hundred photographs, annotated images and maps.
Written by Colin Stump, who previously managed a global group of adventure travel companies, this book aims to demystify some of the complexities that travellers in the region will see.
What are prayers flags for? What do all these angry-looking deities on the temple walls mean? What is tantra? What are the monks trying to achieve when they meditate? Why are there so many different buddhas? Who is the Dalai Lama?
The book begins with a straightforward explanation of the basic principles of Buddhism and how the fundamental philosophies evolved into Mahayana, and ultimately the more esoteric form, Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism, popularly known today as Tibetan Buddhism.
Explanation of ritual, practise, and the supporting iconography is given, aided by plentiful colour images, maps, and illustrations. Each of the main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagy , and Geluk are covered in turn, with some history, and then detail on their specific practises and institutions.
Finally, Buddhism as practised in India, now home to many Tibetan refugees, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet is covered, bringing the reader right up to date with the challenges facing this fascinating tradition.
Описание: Analysis of Petroglyphic rock art in three valleys of Mongolia`s Altai Mountains begins to explain the rhythm of cultural manifestations: where rock art appears, when it disappears, and why. The material and this remote arena offer an ideal laboratory to study the intersection of prehistoric culture and paleoenvironment.
An illuminating story of a Sufi community that sought the revelation of God. In the Afghan highlands of the sixteenth century, the messianic community known as the Roshaniyya not only desired to find God’s word and to abide by it but also attempted to practice God’s word and to develop techniques of language intended to render their own tongues as the organs of continuous revelation. As their critics would contend, however, the Roshaniyya attempted to make language do something that language should not do—infuse the semiotic with the divine. Their story thus ends in a tower of skulls, the proliferation of heresiographies that detailed the sins of the Roshaniyya, and new formations of “Afghan” identity. In Singing with the Mountains, William E. B. Sherman finds something extraordinary about the Roshaniyya, not least because the first known literary use of vernacular Pashto occurs in an eclectic, Roshani imitation of the Qur’an. The story of the Roshaniyya exemplifies a religious culture of linguistic experimentation. In the example of the Roshaniyya, we discover a set of questions and anxieties about the capacities of language that pervaded Sufi orders, imperial courts, groups of wandering ascetics, and scholastic networks throughout Central and South Asia. In telling this tale, Sherman asks the following questions: How can we make language shimmer with divine truth? How can letters grant sovereign power and form new “ethnic” identities and ways of belonging? How can rhyme bend our conceptions of time so that the prophetic past comes to inhabit the now of our collective moment? By analyzing the ways in which the Roshaniyya answered these types of questions—and the ways in which their answers were eventually rejected as heresies—this book offers new insight into the imaginations of religious actors in the late medieval and early modern Persianate worlds.
An illuminating story of a Sufi community that sought the revelation of God. In the Afghan highlands of the sixteenth century, the messianic community known as the Roshaniyya not only desired to find God’s word and to abide by it but also attempted to practice God’s word and to develop techniques of language intended to render their own tongues as the organs of continuous revelation. As their critics would contend, however, the Roshaniyya attempted to make language do something that language should not do—infuse the semiotic with the divine. Their story thus ends in a tower of skulls, the proliferation of heresiographies that detailed the sins of the Roshaniyya, and new formations of “Afghan” identity. In Singing with the Mountains, William E. B. Sherman finds something extraordinary about the Roshaniyya, not least because the first known literary use of vernacular Pashto occurs in an eclectic, Roshani imitation of the Qur’an. The story of the Roshaniyya exemplifies a religious culture of linguistic experimentation. In the example of the Roshaniyya, we discover a set of questions and anxieties about the capacities of language that pervaded Sufi orders, imperial courts, groups of wandering ascetics, and scholastic networks throughout Central and South Asia. In telling this tale, Sherman asks the following questions: How can we make language shimmer with divine truth? How can letters grant sovereign power and form new “ethnic” identities and ways of belonging? How can rhyme bend our conceptions of time so that the prophetic past comes to inhabit the now of our collective moment? By analyzing the ways in which the Roshaniyya answered these types of questions—and the ways in which their answers were eventually rejected as heresies—this book offers new insight into the imaginations of religious actors in the late medieval and early modern Persianate worlds.
Swidden agriculture has long been considered the primary cause of deforestation throughout Southeast Asia, and the Philippine government has used this belief to exclude the indigenous people of Palawan Island from their ancestral lands and to force them to abandon traditional modes of land use. After adopting ostensibly modern and ecologically sustainable livelihoods, the Pala’wan people have experienced drought and uncertain weather patterns, which they have blamed on their own failure to observe traditional social norms that are believed to regulate climate—norms that, like swidden agriculture, have been outlawed by the state.
In this ethnographic case study, Will Smith asks how those who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation have come to position themselves as culpable for the devastating impacts of climate change, examining their statements about changing weather, processes of dispossession, and experiences of climate-driven hunger. By engaging both forest policy and local realities, he suggests that reckoning with these complexities requires reevaluating and questioning key wisdoms in global climate-change policy: What is indigenous knowledge, and who should it serve? Who is to blame for the vulnerability of the rural poor? What, and who, belongs in tropical forests?
Автор: Caleb Swift Carter Название: A Path Into the Mountains: Shugendo and Mount Togakushi ISBN: 0824893107 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780824893101 Издательство: Mare Nostrum (Eurospan) Рейтинг: Цена: 3511.00 р. Наличие на складе: Нет в наличии.
Описание:
Shugendō has been an object of fascination among scholars and the general public, yet its historical development remains an enigma. This book offers a provocative reexamination of the social, economic, and spiritual terrain from which this mountain religious system arose. Caleb Carter traces Shugendō through the mountains of Togakushi (Nagano Prefecture), while situating it within the religious landscape of medieval and early modern Japan. His is the first major study to view Shugendō as a self-conscious religious system—something that was historically emergent but conceptually distinct from the prevailing Buddhist orders of medieval Japan. Beyond Shugendō, his work rethinks a range of issues in the history of Japanese religions, including exclusionary policies toward women, the formation of Shintō, and religion at the social and geographical margins of the Japanese archipelago.
Carter takes a new tack in the study of religions by tracking three recurrent and intersecting elements—institution, ritual, and narrative. Examination of origin accounts, temple records, gazetteers, and iconography from Togakushi demonstrates how practitioners implemented storytelling, new rituals and festivals, and institutional measures to merge Shugendō with their mountain’s culture while establishing social legitimacy and economic security. Indicative of early modern trends, the case of Mount Togakushi reveals how Shugendō moved from a patchwork of regional communities into a translocal system of national scope, eventually becoming Japan’s signature mountain religion.
Описание: A fully annotated translation of the prose texts from the `collected works` of So Kyongdok (1489-1546), an influential Confucian scholar from the early Choson period (1392-1910). So embodied an archetype of the secluded scholar who remains hidden in `mountains and forests` to devote himself to his studies.
A comprehensive guide to the fundamentals of Buddhism, how it specifically evolved in Tibet and the Himalaya, and how it is practised today in Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan.
This is a good introduction for the general public, and travellers to the region, including the many trekkers who now venture into these parts. The book avoids the overtly religious or academic tone found in some other texts on the subject. It is abundantly illustrated, with over three hundred photographs, annotated images and maps.
Written by Colin Stump, who previously managed a global group of adventure travel companies, this book aims to demystify some of the complexities that travellers in the region will see.
What are prayers flags for? What do all these angry-looking deities on the temple walls mean? What is tantra? What are the monks trying to achieve when they meditate? Why are there so many different buddhas? Who is the Dalai Lama?
The book begins with a straightforward explanation of the basic principles of Buddhism and how the fundamental philosophies evolved into Mahayana, and ultimately the more esoteric form, Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism, popularly known today as Tibetan Buddhism.
Explanation of ritual, practise, and the supporting iconography is given, aided by plentiful colour images, maps, and illustrations. Each of the main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagy , and Geluk are covered in turn, with some history, and then detail on their specific practises and institutions.
Finally, Buddhism as practised in India, now home to many Tibetan refugees, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet is covered, bringing the reader right up to date with the challenges facing this fascinating tradition.
Автор: Caleb Swift Carter Название: A Path Into the Mountains: Shugendo and Mount Togakushi ISBN: 0824890132 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780824890131 Издательство: Mare Nostrum (Eurospan) Рейтинг: Цена: 8527.00 р. Наличие на складе: Нет в наличии.
Описание: Japan's tradition of Shugend? has long been an object of fascination and intrigue among scholars and the general public, yet its historical development remains an enigma. A Path into the Mountains offers a provocative reexamination of the complex social, economic, and spiritual terrain from which this mountain religious system arose.Caleb Carter traces Shugend? through the mountains of Togakushi in Nagano prefecture, while situating it within the broader religious landscape of medieval and early modern Japan. His is the first major study to approach Shugend? as a self-conscious religious system--something that was historically emergent but conceptually distinct from the prevailing Buddhist orders of medieval Japan. Beyond the case of Shugend?, this book rethinks a range of issues in the history of Japanese religions, including exclusionary policies toward women, the formation of Shint?, and religion at the social and geographical margins of the Japanese archipelago.A Path into the Mountains takes a novel approach in the study of religions by tracking three recurrent and intersecting elements--institution, ritual, and narrative--in the historical formation of religion. Transmitted to Togakushi in the sixteenth century, Shugend? underwent a gradual process of adaptation to a mountain setting already steeped in Buddhist doctrines, rigorous ascetic practices, and devotion to a nine-headed dragon. Examination of origin accounts, temple records, gazetteers, and iconography from Togakushi demonstrates how its practitioners implemented creative storytelling tactics, new rituals and festivals, and institutional measures to merge Shugend? with their mountain's culture while simultaneously establishing a foundation of social legitimacy and economic security to buttress their livelihoods.Indicative of early modern trends, the case of Mount Togakushi reveals how Shugend? moved from a patchwork of regional communities into a translocal system of national scope and reputation, eventually becoming Japan's signature mountain religion. More broadly, it outlines the historical methods by which religious actors mobilized story, ritual, and institution to shape their own sense of religious practice and identity.A Path into the Mountains will find a ready audience among students and scholars of Japanese religions, but also bears relevance for those interested in Buddhism, religious cultural history, and mountain communities.
Автор: Hargett, James M. Название: Jade mountains and cinnabar pools ISBN: 0295744464 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780295744469 Издательство: Mare Nostrum (Eurospan) Рейтинг: Цена: 13794.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание:
First-hand accounts of travel provide windows into places unknown to the reader, or new ways of seeing familiar places. In Jade Mountains and Cinnabar Pools, the first book-length treatment in English of Chinese travel literature (youji), James M. Hargett identifies and examines core works in the genre, from the Six Dynasties period (220-581), when its essential characteristics emerged, to its florescence in the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644). He traces the dynamic process through which the genre, most of which was written by scholars and officials, developed, and shows that key features include a journey toward an identifiable place; essay or diary format; description of places, phenomena, and conditions, accompanied by authorial observations, comments, and even personal feelings; inclusion of sensory details; and narration of movement through space and time.
Travel literature's inclusion of a variety of writing styles and purposes has made it hard to delineate. Hargett finds, however, that classic pieces of Chinese travel literature reveal much about the author, his values, and his view of the world, which in turn tells us about the author's society, making travel literature a rich source of historical information.
